He Who Protects the Living
by Kami no Kage
Summary: Kurosaki Ichigo was just supposed to be in Fuyuki City for a few days. Then a fire happened and he lost his memories. Adopted by a magus named Emiya Kiritsugu, Kurosaki Ichigo became Emiya Shirou. All was well until ten years later he found himself fighting a figure dressed in blue, wielding a blood red lance. ShirouxSaber
1. Reborn out of Ash

He Who Protects the Living

**AN: Hello everyone! Welcome to my first story, He Who Protects the Living! Tons of thanks to Gazzadcs, who was the one that inspired me to finally write this. Seriously man, thanks a ton for all your help with this story, without you, this wouldn't be here! Everyone, go check out this guys FSNxFable crossover, it's looking pretty good. This may seem just a rehash at first, so sorry. I have nothing else to say, so without further adieu, welcome to the first chapter, Reborn!**

Chapter 1: Reborn out of Ash

_'How did this happen?'_ Masaki despaired as she ran with her son.

There were flames everywhere. Smoke covered the skies as they heard the screams of the dying and injured. Screams pleading for help.

Masaki ignored all of them. The only thing that mattered to her was saving her precious son.

They were only supposed to stay for a week. Just one week. Masaki's parents had wanted her to visit, and little Ichigo had begged her to let him come with her. She just couldn't say no to that face.

Ichigo tripped and fell. "Mommy!" he cried out.

"Ichigo!" Masaki cried out. Quickly she bent down, when a creaking noise stopped her. They were underneath a burning building, and a broken beam looked about ready to fall.

"Come on Ichigo, stand up honey, everything's going to be okay." she told him. With a groan, Ichigo stood up, right as the beam fell.

With a cry, Masaki pushed Ichigo away. "Mommy!" he cried out, as the beam fell on her. Before she was instantly consumed by the flames and rubble of the building, she mouthed something that he couldn't hear.

Ichigo cried out, but his mothers form had already been completely covered. He collapsed, unconscious.

-This is a page break-

Some time later, he woke up. He was in a burning town. He was the only one still alive, he noticed almost clinically. He slowly remembered the sight of a woman saying something he couldn't make out before she was crushed by the burning rubble.

He didn't know why, but felt that she was important to him. A few tears fell, before he started sobbing.

Slowly, sobs racking his body, he walked away. He decided, that if everyone else was dead, he should live. People, buildings, all were consumed by the flames. He was sure he was going to die, but kept walking.

The boy walked, ignoring everything around him. He felt nothing as he walked, listening to the cries of the damned. People pleaded with him for help, mother's asked him to save their children, but he kept walking.

Perhaps hours later, the boy finally collapsed. It was raining. In that moment, the boy hated the rain more than he had ever hated anything. Why couldn't the rain have come sooner, and put out the fire so that woman, and these people wouldn't have died?

Moments later, his vision was consumed by a man, a haggard looking man with black spiky hair, crying. The boy looked at the man, and noticed that he looked happy, even while he was crying. Then and there, the boy decided that he wanted to look as happy as this man looked.

The sheer joy on the mans face that he was at least able to save one person joined his thoughts of a woman being crushed by rubble, as he fell unconscious to the sight of a golden glow.

-This is a page break-

A boy with bright orange hair slowly opened his eyes, then immediately shut them again at a white glare.

Again, a bit more slowly, he opened his eyes, and took in his surroundings. He looked outside and noticed the blue sky. It was indescribably beautiful after the rain that should have saved that woman and those people.

The boy took a look at the room he was in, and noticed there were more people other than him, most badly injured. But it was okay. It meant that they had been saved.

A few days later, the boy remembered. The burning town, the dead, the woman that meant something to him dying and trying to tell him something.

The boy was nothing more than a newborn. He could not remember anything except the burning and the woman.

He was alone. His parents were presumed dead in the fire, and as he could not remember anything, they didn't know if he had other family.

The boy simply accepted this.

On the day that the boy's bandages were taken off, he was visited by the man that had saved him. Black uncombed hair, stubble on his chin, wearing a ragged coat.

The boy looked right back, taking in his appearance and the man said "Hi there, you must be Shirou-kun."

Shirou. The name that the doctors had given him, as he could not remember his own.

"I'll ask you bluntly. Would you like to go to an orphanage or come with me?" the man asked.

I did know the man, but anything was better than an orphanage. I told him I would go with him.

He quickly and messily packed my things.

Then he turned to me and said "Ah, just one thing you have t know before you come with me. I'm a magus."

Shirou just nodded his head in acceptance.

**Ten Years later, Emiya Residence, Shed**

With a groan, Shirou woke up and took a look around. It seemed that he had once again fallen asleep in the shed. He took a look at the time and gasped, he had woken up late. That was rare, but his concern was that soon his kohai Sakura would be here.

Shirou was about 5'9" (174cm). He had bright orange hair and an athletic physique.

Quickly, he put away all the stuff around him, and quickly made a sword, which looked like an oversized katana, as long as he was tall, disappear in a flurry of black particles.

_'Just in time too.'_ he thought as he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

The shed door opened, revealing a beautiful blue haired girl, a red ribbon in her hime style hair, wearing a school uniform.

"Senpai, it's very unusual for you to be up this late. I'll go get started on breakfast okay?" she said with a kind smile.

This was Sakura, Shirou's kohai. About a year ago Shirou had gotten sick, and Sakura came over and helped him out. Eventually, she just kept coming. They had a very close relationship.

"Ah matte Sakura, I'll help you." he said as he quickly approached her. She giggled and pointed to his clothes. "No need for that senpai I can do it. Besides, you should get dressed before Fujimura-sensei gets here." she said.

Shirou grimaced at his dirty and oily overalls, which he had been using to work and train last night. "Alright Sakura, I'll be right up." he said as he turned around and grabbed a uniform, which he kept in the shed in case something like this happened.

"I'll go get started then." proclaimed Sakura as she turned around and walked toward the house.

Shirou quickly dressed, then put the stove he had been fixing the night before away. The shed was filled with junk.

Shirou emerged from the shed and into the yard. He had a Japanese style home.

Quickly, he went to help Sakura in the kitchen, but he was too late. She had already finished.

"Oh senpai, your here already." she remarked as she looked through the cupboard.

"Here already? I woke up late, usually I'm already here. You just go on ahead Sakura, I'll take care of taking everything out." said Shirou with a small scowl on his face as he went to load the plates.

"Oh, that won't do senpai, let me help. I'll load the plates and you take them out." she said, quickly blocking my path.

Shirou decided not to argue with her. "Fine, do what you want." he said, his scowl increasing the slightest bit.

Sakura giggled, "You should stop scowling so much senpai, your face could get stuck like that."

Blushing a bit, I nevertheless put on a small smile and grabbed the plates as she loaded them and carried them to the table.

Breakfast was quiet, except for when Fuji-nee switched the labels of oyster sauce and soy sauce for calling her by her nickname the day before.

Fuji-nee was Shirou's caretaker. Or, as Shirou remarked, a freeloader.

After breakfast, Sakura was looking at the news. There were gas leaks taking place in Shinto, the neighboring town, and many people had been hospitalized.

"Worried Sakura?" he asked her as he put the dishes away.

"Well, senpai, isn't your workplace in Shinto?" she asked him.

"Yeah but it's a small place, I doubt anything like that's going to happen." Shirou told her.

Afterwords, they quickly locked the place up and hurried to their school so Sakura could be on time for her Archery club.

They arrived quickly, and Sakura turned to Shirou and asked "Senpai, would you like to come to the dojo today?"

"Sorry Sakura, Issei asked me for help today, so I have to head for the student council room." Shirou responded back.

"Ah, okay then Senpai, I'll see you for dinner tonight." she responded, looking sad, and a little...ashamed?

_'Odd.'_ thought Shirou, but he quickly went on his own way.

-This is a page break-

Ryudou Issei was a good friend of Shirou. He was the big guy on the council. He had a rather plain personality, but he was a good friend.

He often asked Shirou for help fixing things. The schools budget favored the sports teams, and so there were often things that needed to be replaced.

As Shirou was looking at a heater, he asked Issei, "I'm almost done, can you step outside please?"

"A delicate operation huh? Sure, thanks for your help." he responded, making his way out of the room.

Shirou placed his hand on the heater and began to use Structural Analysis.

Structural Analysis. A spell. One of the ones that Shirou's father, Emiya Kiritsugu had taught him before he had died.

Kiritsugu had been a magus, and about eight years ago he had taught Shirou magecraft after he had begged him enough.

He couldn't do much with magic, but structural analysis was one of the few spells he was good at.

An image of the heater appeared in Shirou's head, and he quickly noted what was wrong. He quickly fixed it, once he knew what was wrong the rest was easy.

Shirou's father had once remarked that it was a worthless talent that he had with that spell. In truth, Shirou was not very good at magecraft. There was only one thing that was his saving grace, and he didn't understand it at all really.

It had happened the first time that Kiritsugu had taught him. It had confounded the both of them, and he still didn't understand it.

He headed out the room, and saw Issei conversing with a girl. Huh. It was Tohsaka Rin. She was a girl that lived in a mansion, athletic ability, good grades, modest, everyone in the school considered her the perfect woman.

Shirou personally did not see it. She was just a girl to him. She gave him a quick calculating look when he came out the room, then went back to her act.

Issei didn't really like her because he felt she was hiding something. Shirou had to agree with him. He could tell she put on an act for everyone, though he was clueless as to why.

Shirou quickly told him he was done, and they went off to the next room. Right before that, he looked at Tohsaka and remarked "Your up early Tohsaka."

She looked surprised, but threw him another look, like she was looking at his soul, then left.

Shirou and Issei quickly finished up then headed to homeroom.

There, Shirou saw Matou Shinji and scowled. Shinji was Sakura's older brother. Shirou disliked him a great deal, though Shinji seemed oblivious to it. He treated Sakura really roughly, and he was just an all around dis likeable person.

"Emiya your noisy today. I see you've been helping out Ryudou again, I hope you don't do anything to bring the club into disrepute." he told Shirou with an arrogant smirk.

Scowl deepening, Shirou looked at him and asked "What do you want Shinji?"

Looking a little taken aback, Shinji put on a brave fave and stuttered out "I-I j-just came to tell you how well the clubs been doing, especially now that a certain attention hogger is gone."

"I see." Shirou responded. "Mitsuzuri must be doing a good job." He took private delight in the look that Shinji made.

"N-no, I'm the one that's made the club as great as it is! Don't an outsider like you pretend he can understand our club issues!" he spoke against me.

Shirou raised an eyebrow. "I see. Well, have you been taking proper care of your bow? I know you tend to pull to far and it gets strained."

Shinji put on a rather humorous embarrassed/outraged face, but finally left. Afterwords, Issei asked me if I was alright, and I reassured him.

School was largely uneventful, same as any other day. After school I went to work. They needed me for inventory work

On my way home, at the bridge, I noticed something. A flower vase was knocked over, there were some punks hanging around.

Scowling deeply, I went over, and promptly kicked one of the punks in the face.

"Yama-bro!"

"Teme! Who do you think you are!" said one of the guys, wearing a beanie. The guy walked up to Shirou, who kicked his face into the ground, which cracked.

"Mit-Bro!"

"What is this guy?"

"One. What is that?" asked Shirou, pointing to the vase. "You!" He pointed at one of the guys.

"Umm, an offering to some dead guy?" he stammered out with a nervous smile.

"Correct. And why is it knocked over?" asked Shirou, a deadly expression on his face.

"E-eto, b-because we knocked it over with our...skateboards?" he stuttered out. A foot came out of nowhere and smashed him into a wall.

"Toshi!"

"This guys a monster!"

"Oh man, oh man!"

"Now, you should apologize." Shirou said, a smile on his face.

"We're sorry, we're sorry!" said the rest of them bowing down over and over.

"Not to me, to her!" shouted out Shirou, pointing to a figure the thugs could not previously see. It was a little boy, brown hair, perfectly normal except for three things.

One: He was floating.

Two: There was a chain coming out of his chest

Three: There was a bullet sized hole in his forehead, dried blood all around his face.

Screaming out in pure terror, the thugs, crying, ran away apologizing.

"Alright, those guys probably won't bother you again. I'll bring you more flowers tomorrow." he said to the little boy with a kind smile on his face.

"Thank you so much Onii-san!" exclaimed the boy. "Now I can rest."

The boy faded away as Shirou sighed. That happened a lot. Ever since he could remember, he could see ghosts. The dearly departed. The dead.

It was something that confounded his father Kiritsugu, who presumed his magic leaned to death. He never found out why it was that Shirou could see the dead. He also did not know what to teach him if his element or origin was death.

Just as Shirou was coming up to his home, he noticed something odd. A little girl, with silver hair and red eyes, coming down the hill. As she was passing by, she told Shirou "Summon it soon Onii-chan. Otherwise, you'll die."

'_What?'_ thought Shirou, but quickly dismissed it as the girls imagination.

Before she could go, he leaned down and grabbed her hand.

"Hey, what's a little girl like you doing out here all along?" he asked the girl, who turned to him with a surprised look on her face. "It's dangerous to be out alone at night these days, where are your parents? Never mind, come on I'll walk you home."

Ilya looked at him with a stunned face. She didn't know what to do, she hadn't expected him to do anything like this. Conflicted, she quickly kicked him in between the legs and ran away.

"Itai!" yelled out Shirou, a pained look on his face, bent down in pain. "Chotto mattekure!" he called out, but she was already gone. Wincing, he stood and decided to go home. She probably thought he was the bad guy he thought, limping home. He doubted she was in trouble though, wincing. She had a hell of a kick.

-This is a page break-

Dinner was eventful. Full of Fuji-nee telling Sakura about Shirou as a kid, proclaiming he'd be an Ally of Justice.

It wasn't a dream Shirou had given up, despite her teasing.

After dinner, Shirou asked Fuji-nee to walk Sakura home. Shinji didn't like Sakura coming over to his place, and while Shirou could easily put the fear of God into his heart, he didn't want him to take it out on Sakura. Then he might just kill him. Besides, Fuji-nee could take care of herself.

When they were gone, he went out back to the shed. Kiritsugu had taught him that he must train in magecraft every day. Shirou did so with gusto. He had not wanted Shirou to learn magecraft, but Shirou was insistent.

Kiritsugu had taught him to use magecraft for others, and that to practice magecraft, was to walk hand in hand with death.

Fitting, for someone like Shirou, who could see the dead.

Shirou invoked, "Trace, On." and summoned a katana, as long as he was tall, and very wide. Looking at it, Shirou thought back to the first time Kiritsugu had taught him. When teaching him to make an artificial circuit, pressure had erupted from Shirou's body.

Black particles had come out of him, and formed into a sword. This sword. It was something that had confounded Kiritsugu. He had had no idea of what it was. It was clear however, that Shirou was a strong magus, especially for not having a magic crest.

A magic crest was a compilation of a families studies in magecraft, and their circuits. They were rejected by those without the families blood. As such, Kiritsugu could not give Shirou his magic crest.

Their was only one problem however. Shirou, despite his seemingly powerful magic, could not do any spells. He had seemingly no talent for magecraft. There was only two spells he could do. Structural analysis, and reinforcement.

According to Kiritsugu, both were worthless skills. Nevertheless, Shirou used reinforcement to strengthen his sword. For some reason, it was hard for Shirou to use it on anything but his sword, and surprisingly, himself.

After using reinforcement just once on his sword, it never wore off. Shirou often checked, but it never wore off. He was also able to use reinforcement on himself, near perfectly.

This had caught Kiritsugu's interest. Why could he use it on himself and his sword, but not anything else?

They never found out. From that point on, Shirou no longer had to create an artificial circuit. Power just came out of him when he needed it.

_'Enough reminiscing.'_ thought Shirou. _'I need to get to work.'_

That night, Shirou trained in swordsmanship, which he had studied just as fervently as he had archery so he could properly use his sword.

He also tried his hand at reinforcing other objects, but did not succeed.

Leaving the shed and looking at the sky, he thought, _'Old man, I get closer to being an Ally of Justice everyday. Just you wait, I'll fulfill your dream for you,'_

That night, Shirou dreamt of a beautiful golden sword.

**The Next Day**

The next day was nothing special to Shirou. He woke up, made breakfast, then trained in the dojo.

A magus had to be physically fit after all.

When Sakura arrived, he noticed a bruise on her wrist but said nothing. Shinji liked beating on Sakura, it was why Shirou hated him. He would deal with Shinji later.

He then went to school and met Mitsuzuri. They talked and she remarked that he made a first-year quit the club. Apparently he had been shot down by Tohsaka Rin when he asked her on a date.

Shirou took secret pleasure in this. He told her that he and Shinji were not friends or anything close to it. She seemed surprised, but accepted it.

They said their good-byes and Shirou headed to class.

At lunch, he and Issei talked about a murder that had been down apparently with a sword.

After school he had gone to work. He got off the bus, but decided to visit the park. The place he had been saved.

He sat on a bench, and thought it looked too desolate. The city could surely fix the park up. Plant new trees, new grass. He thought back to the day that he had told Kiritsugu that he would be a hero who saved everyone. He hated the thought that the people who sacrificed so much did not get a happy ending.

He took a look around and remembered that day. The screams. The dying. That woman. Shirou still had not figured out who that woman was. All he could remember was what she looked like. Her death. Her mouth, saying something he could not hear.

She meant something to him, but he could not figure out what. Her memory, spurred him on to trying to save people. He didn't want someone like that woman to die. He didn't want anyone close to him to die.

Hearing the bell, he stood and headed to work.

After work, he started walking home, when something made him stop and look up. Seeing something strange on top of a tower, he reinforced his eyesight, then saw a figure. _'Tohsaka?'_ he thought, then she vanished.

He idly wondered what she was doing, but paid it no more attention.

When he got home, Sakura had already left. He conversed with Fuji-nee for a bit, seeing a poster she had brought home, an army recruitment poster, with a metal plate on it of all things. Eating dinner and saying goodbye to Fuji-nee, he went out to the shed when she left and did his usual routine. Finishing up around 1 o'clock, he went to bed.

Little did he know that next day would be one of the longest and most important of his life. A day that would change his life.

**The Next Day**

Shirou woke with a gasp. He had dreamt of the night of the fire. The woman. Shaking his head, he noticed the time. It was late, and he could hear Sakura working in the kitchen.

At breakfast, Fuji-nee remarked on how he was late and asked if anything was wrong. Shirou simply told her he had a dream of his past.

After breakfast and walking out the door, Sakura told me "Senpai, I won't be coming to help this weekend, but please, come to the dojo if you need anything."

"It's fine Sakura don't worry about it. I'll come to the dojo if I need anything." he told her. She nodded, then gasped.

"Senpai, your hand." she pointed out.

"Ara?" Shirou looked down. His left hand was bleeding. A welt ran up his arm like a snake.

"Don't worry Sakura, it doesn't hurt or anything. It's nothing, it'll heal quickly." he told her. Sakura didn't quite look convinced, looked a little odd really.

Shirou attributed it to the blood, and dismissed it.

They quickly arrived at school and parted ways. When Shirou crossed the gate, he froze. There was something wrong, like there was a membrane in front of him. Shirou shook his head and passed it off as his imagination, but took an uneasy glance at the gate.

After school, Shirou helped Issei with the things he couldn't the last time, and before he knew it, it was sundown.

Walking out of his classroom, he walked into a blue haired boy, a couple of loud girls behind him. Shirou put on his usual scowl. Matou Shinji.

Then, he suddenly internally grinned as he took a look at the girls. A perfect chance to get at him without resorting to violence.

"Oh, your still here, Emiya? Oh but of course, your always helping out the student council right?" Shinji asked him, a mocking grin on his face.

"Yes that's right. We're the ones using the things, so it's only right we fix them right?" Shirou responded back.

"Heh. Haven't I told you I hate it when you act like a good boy?" he said to Shirou, his grin still on.

"Oh, I didn't really notice. It just seemed like the kind of usual thing you say, so I probably just ignored it." he responded back, internally grinning.

The girls behind Shnji began giggling, Shinji began gritting his teeth, but forced himself to relax.

"All right, so you're going to fix everything?" he asked me, no longer grinning, a strained smile on his face.

"That's impossible. I'll fix what I can, no one can fix everything." Shirou responded.

"I see. In that case, would you care to clean the dojo and string the bows for me? You should help us out too, not just the council." he asked me, thinking he had the upper hand.

"Huh? Fujimura-sensei told us not to do that senpai. You could get in trouble." one of the girls told him.

"Well didn't he say that he used to be a member?" said one of the other girls. "Maybe we could let him do it."

"I don't mind. You were never good at stringing the bows, right Shinji? You always put them on too tight and they snapped on you." Shirou told him.

Once again gritting his teeth at the giggling girls, Shirou didn't know them, they must be newcomers, Shinji thanked Shirou with a strained expression on his face and told the girls to go.

Waving at the girls, who waved back, still giggling, he grinned as Shinji left. It might not leave the same taste as punching him, but humiliating him was good revenge too.

Shirou went out to the dojo, remembering the day he had gotten injured. Something had fallen and left a scar on his arm, and Shinji had suggested that he leave since his school practiced traditional shooting. Men shot with their right shoulders uncovered.

He had never missed except for a single shot. That shot he missed deliberately, to see if it would miss. He was a natural at archery, and Shinji had always been jealous of his talent.

Cleaning every spot, he finished a few hours later.

Walking outside, Shirou remarked on how cold it was. He could see his own breath. Resolving to go home quickly, he walked on, then froze.

He just heard something. _'What was that?'_ he thought, frozen in place.

'Clang!'

There it was again. Like metal striking on metal. It sounded like it was coming from the schoolyard.

Ignoring a sudden sense of unease, he hurried to the schoolyard to see what was going on.

Arriving at the front of the school, he paused, and squinted. He could see figures.

Once again, walking hurriedly towards them, he suddenly froze. _'What...Is this?'_ was his stunned thought. There were two figures. One dressed in blue, one in red. His gaze moved to the red figure. Something about him looked familiar.

They had weapons out. The figure in red had two swords out, one black, one white. They drew his gaze, once again, seeming familiar.

He looked at the figure in blue, a sadistic grin on his face, wielding a long red lance that felt of death to Shirou. It was not a bad feeling to him.

They were fighting, but beyond the capability of any normal human being. _'Mages?'_ was Shirou's stray thought, before he dismissed it. No magus could possibly fight at this level.

Clang

Clang

Clang

Shirou kept on hearing the clash of metal on metal as he stared at the two figures, fighting at such speeds Shirou could only make out blurs while they were moving.

Shirou reinforced his eyes to watch, wondering what these two beings were doing there. Beings. There was no way they were human.

Suddenly, they stopped. The blue figure turned for a moment, and Shirou took and unconscious step back.

Crack

In the sudden silence, the cracking of a branch as Shirou stepped on it rang out. Cursing a storm in his head, he reinforced his body, though he wondered what use it would be against beings like them, and ran.

He could feel someone following at his back. He ran faster. Running into the school, he finally stopped inside a vacant classroom, as he felt the presence disappear. Panting, he took a quick look at his surroundings.

Then, he stiffened as he felt the presence once more.

"Well, well, you run quite fast for a human. Are you done already? I was enjoying the chase." Shirou turned around and swore out loud as he faced the same blue figure from before. Now up close, Shirou took in the figures clothes, his blue hair, red eyes and his long, red spear.

"Sorry about this, but you weren't supposed to see that." the figure mentioned nonchalantly, right before he thrust the lance at Shirou.

Cursing, Shirou dodged right, but the lance made a cut on his left arm.

"Trace, On!" Shirou spoke, a huge sword appearing in his hands. Grimacing, and taking a quick look at his arm, was relieved to see it wasn't a bad cut. It didn't look like it would stop bleeding however.

"Oh?" the figure remarked. "Projection? Your using a useless spell like that to fight me? I am impressed that you dodged however. Well, not completely." The figure said, a smile on his face, looking at Shirou's arm.

"Alright gaki, I'll give you a chance to fight. Give me a good fight now." the figure said, as he once more thrust his lance.

Shirou quickly parried and gave a swing downwards, but the figure was already gone. _'Behind'_ he thought, as he hurriedly turned and blocked another thrust.

The figure thrusted his lance at Shirou with increadible speed, his thrusts looking like he was striking ten times at once. Shirou desperately swung his sword over and over. Clangs filled up the room.

Shirou was putting up a fight, but it wasn't good enough. He was steadily receiving more and more cuts as time went on.

Blood streamed out of Shirou, as he striked at the figure. He was starting to get tired. Despite his seemingly large reserves of prana, Shirou was weakening. Sustaining his reinforcement, and moving as fast as he could was taking it's toll on his body.

Shirou jumped back at a swing of the figures lance then immediately regretted it as he felt a wall behind him. Putting up his sword as a shield, the figure grinned before he thrust once more, braking through Shirou's sword, and into his stomach.

Shirou stared at the lance in his stomach. Blood poured out.

"Well kid, you put up a good fight. In the end though, you were just a human." the figure told him as he removed the lance.

Shirou gasped. _'Is this how I'm going to die'_ he thought. His eyes slowly closed, then shot open again.

_'Huh?'_ was Shirou's only thought as he looked around. He was in a different place. He looked around and saw a barren desert, swords all around him. Then he saw a figure. A man, with a black coat that seemed like flames at the bottom. He had long black hair and was wearing sunglasses.

"Welcome Ichigo." the figure told him.

"Where are we? Why did you call me Ichigo? My name is Shirou. Emiya Shirou" he both told and asked the figure in wonder. "Who are you?"

"My name isn't important right now. Why I called you Ichigo is likewise not important right now. We are in your soul, Ichigo. The source of your power. Your 'magecraft' as you call it." The figure told him.

Shirou stared at him. _'His soul?'_ he wondered.

"However Ichigo, you are dying right now. See how this place crumbles. If you want to live, you need to find the source of your power. Your zanpakutou. Your true sword." the figure told him.

"Wait a minute!" Shirou cried out to him. "How am I supposed to find one sword in all of this? It's impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible Ichigo. You just have to feel it." the figure explained to him. "You must hurry now. This world is crumbling, and you won't live much longer."

Frowning, but acquiescing to the man, Shirou looked around. He saw flames coming from out in the distance. They were closing in too fast for Shirou's liking.

He closed his eyes, wondering what he was supposed to sense. He couldn't feel anything. The scent of smoke filled his nostrils. The fire was getting closer. Wait. Shirou took a sniff. What was that smell he wondered.

Shirou opened his eyes and sniffed the air. That smell. It smelled like...death. Deciding it was better than nothing, especially as the flames were close enough he was starting to feel the heat, he ran towards the smell.

Minutes, hours, he didn't know. All he knew, was that he had to find that scent. The other man, followed him, gliding. Shirou ignored him. Finally, Shirou came upon a hill. There was a sword on the top.

It could only be described as a giant cleaver. There was no tsuba(guard), it was black with a silver edge. Ignoring the sense that felt like there was something missing on that hill, he ran up and grabbed the sword, just as the flames reached the hill.

Darkness consumed Shirou's vision. Suddenly, he heard a voice. _'Remember Ichigo. Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You will age if you hesitate. You will die if you retreat. Now, shout out my name! My name is -'_

Shirou opened his eyes, standing and surprising the blue figure with the lance as he roared out - "ZANGETSU!"

Black exploded out of Shirou. The blue figure moved back, his face set in wonder as he saw Shirou.

A sudden pressure fell on the blue figure as Shirou's sword turned into a giant cleaver.

_'What is that? That's not a sword, it's a giant slab of metal with a hilt and an edge!'_ the figure thought as the pressure lessened but did not die down. White suddenly exploded out of the hole in Shirou's stomach.

Shirou thought nothing of it, there was something more important in front of him. He turned his swords hilt on himself and broke the mask.

He looked at the figure and prepared himself, when something unusual happened. Unaware to him, a circle back in his shed at home glowed a bright red as dried blood started moving on it.

All the blood on the ground, Shirou's blood, gathered into a circle. Shirou looked on in wonder as it suddenly formed into a ritual looking magic circle.

His blood, the circle glowed a bright red as a flash overtook the room. When it died down, Shirou suddenly felt a pull on his prana, and a figure appeared. Shirou stared at her. Moonlight streamed from one of the windows in the classroom.

She was blond, wearing what looked to be a blue middle ages style dress, underneath a load of armor.

She looked at Shirou, and he wondered at her looks. He thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Shirou looked at her green eyes in wonder.

The girl suddenly spoke to Shirou, something that made him a little confused.

"By your summoning, I have appeared. I ask of you, are you my master?"

-This is the end of Chapter 1-

**AN: Well, there you have it. I'm sorry if it appeared to follow the events of the VS too much, but I assure you that will change as soon as next chapter. Once again, many thanks to Gazzadcs, who helped me so much with this. The fight scene wasn't very good in my opinion, but I'll try really hard to get better. Please review and leave your thoughts on this chapter. Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, where I could improve, etc. I'll try my hardest to update in one week. Maybe even sooner. Thanks for reading, Ja Ne!**


	2. The Holy Grail War

He Who Protects the Living

**AN: I must say, I was stunned by the reception this story got. It was beyond any and all expectations I had. Thank you, to everyone reading.**

**A few notes: In chapter one, I said Sakura's hair is blue. It's actually purple, that was a typo. Sorry.**

**A few people have asked about Shirou and his Tracing. I'll give you guys the same answer I gave them. If Shirou Traces a hundred swords in this story, he will have only Traced one. Also, his origin is Death, not Sword. I gave a few hints in chapter one as well. If you can figure it out, I will answer one question you have about this story.**

**I will now provide translations to Japanese terms at the bottom.**

**Progress on the story will be on my profile from now on.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited and alerted this story. So without further adieu, chapter 2!**

_Last Time: When it died down, Shirou suddenly felt a pull on his prana, and a figure appeared... The girl suddenly spoke to Shirou, something that made him a little confused."By your summoning, I have appeared. I ask of you, are you my master?"_

Chapter 2: The Holy Grail War

"By your summoning, I have appeared. I ask of you, are you my master?" Saber asked the orange haired boy.

She looked at his hand, holding the sword, a tattoo looking image of a skull, with two lines crossed behind it.

The girl nodded. "I am servant Saber. From this time forth, my sword will be with you and your fate shall be with me."

Shirou was mystified by the appearance of this girl. By her amazing beauty. Her prana. If Shirou's prana could be described as death, then this girl's prana was life. He could feel it. Whoever this girl was, she was the same as this figure. Not human.

Yet, in her presence, he felt comfort. Like he belonged by her side. It felt like all that mattered in that instant was her.

His thought process was interrupted when he heard a chuckle.

Suddenly Saber took notice of the condition her master was in. Cuts littered his body, and there was a figure dressed in blue wielding a lance. _'Lancer.'_ she immediately labeled him.

"It appears that I have been summoned at an inopportune time. We shall speak after the immediate threat is dealt with." she spoke, with a regal air.

"Hehehe, well, well, well. It appears that you're the seventh master after all boy. How entertaining. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am the Lancer of this Holy Grail War. Now boy, come at me with all your strength!" the now revealed Lancer spoke, a grin on his face.

Saber spoke: "Very well, honor dictates I must also introduce myself. I am Saber." Saber did not hesitate a moment more. Prana, white with a tinge of blue surrounded her like lightning. She immediately shot off the ground at Lancer. Lancer blocked with his lance, but was blown back, out the room. Saber followed.

Shirou immediately followed. He did not really understand what was going on, but this 'Saber' appeared to be on his side. At least for now.

Saber and Lancer were fighting in the hallway. Lancer wasn't smiling anymore. Lancer's thrusts were as fast as lightning, but Saber continuously dodged, weaving in and out them. Saber could feel the air displacement from each strike.

Saber got up close, slashing at Lancer's torso which he blocked with his lance. Sounds like thunder came from every exchange.

Sparks from the clashing of steel on steel flew every second. If Lancer's strikes were reminiscent of a cheetah, speed and precision, then Saber was a lion. Power ran through her arms and sword, every one of her swings was surely enough to kill a normal man.

Shirou noticed that he could follow their movements now. He couldn't see anything but blurs when Lancer had fought with the man in red, but now he could follow them. He did not step in. This was a battle that was beyond him, even with his new power up.

It was a fight on another level, a fight where him stepping in could mean death for him and the girl.

…

Saber could not believe the power of her strikes. The prana she was receiving through the contract felt thicker than normal. Denser, stronger. Her master must be quite strong indeed.

Lancer did not have the time to strike back. A slash came at him from every direction. It was all he could do to block. There was also the problem that he could not see what he was defending against.

"Tch, what are you doing hiding your weapon. Are you a coward Saber!" he roared as he defended a slash to his head.

The girl did not respond, but increase the strength and speed of her blows. Lancer moved back quickly. Shirou could not blame him, it must have been incredibly difficult to fight her when he could not see what he was defending against.

He had to commend Lancer, for blocking by looking at her hands and feet.

Now further back, Lancer thrusted his lance at Saber. Her head, her heart, her liver. He was targeting her vitals. Saber dodged and blocked every single thrust.

He slashed at her from a few feet away. Saber blocked, throwing his lance away.

In an instant, Lancer twirled his lance around, throwing Saber slightly off balance.

Taking advantage, lancer slashed diagonally from the ground, but Saber simply leaned back.

Saber come in close, an overhead strike. Lancer jumped back.

She stepped up to him, charging her sword with prana, and slashed downwards. Lancer desperately jumped back once again. Saber's sword hit the ground, making a large crack.

Lancer however was too slow this time. She immediately got into his face again, slashing diagonally. Lancer blocked and pushed her sword aside with his lance, but she twirled around and slashed at his chest. Lancer tried to jumpe back but was too slow.

A large slash mark was on his chest now. Blood dripped down the wound. A murderous look on his face, he just stared at her.

Saber had just gotten first blood.

"What's wrong Lancer?" Saber spoke for the first time in their engagement. "If you do not attack, I will."

"So eager to die are you." Lancer spoke, the same look on his face. Lancer suddenly took a stance with his lance pointed down. Murderous intent filled the air. Prana filled the lance in a maelstrom.

The girls eyes widened. "Noble Phantasm!"

She tried to put up a defensive stance, but Lancer was suddenly in front of her. He began to thrust his lance at her feet, his mouth speaking the words - "Gae-" but was cut off when he was hit by a large blue crescent beam that sent him flying through a wall and into another classroom.

…

Shirou could not believe the level at which the two were fighting. It was one thing for them to be stronger than any human had a right to be, but there was also such skill.

Their fight was like a dance. A deadly dance where the first to make a mistake would die. As if sensing his thoughts, Saber finally got her first hit on Lancer. Blood ran down his chest and pooled at his feet. That was a bad wound.

Shirou knew it was time for him to get involved. The girl was doing good, but he would not let a girl he had just met fight his battles for him.

It wasn't right.

Preparing himself, Shirou felt the murderous intent coming from Lancer. He saw Lancer take a strange stance and felt the prana swirling around him. It appeared he was going to do something big.

Shirou saw Lancer thrusting his lance at Saber's feet. He smirked. When he had grabbed his sword in his mind he had gained knowledge of a new spell.

Shirou was not a very good magus, being able to use only two spells, and only on his sword and himself at that, but he somehow knew he could do it.

Oddly enough, Shirou did not know the name of the mystery he was about to use. He didn't quite know how a spell, a mystery, without an incantation would work.

He just knew it would.

Channeling prana into his sword, he let it loose in a diagonal slash. Where he slashed, a crescent blue beam came out, carving into the ground and hitting Lancer.

Lancer was immediately thrown back and through a wall.

Saber turned and looked at him with wide eyes.

_'That attack!'_ she thought. _'It almost looked like my Excalibur! Just who is this boy!?'_

Shirou kept his smirk on. "Sorry Saber, but it looks like it's my turn. A pretty girl like you should just stand back."

Saber was indignant. "Wha-? Master, it is the servants duty to fight! I am a warrior, my gender should not mean anything!"

Shirou scowled, and opened his mouth to say something along the lines of he didn't need her to fight his battles for him, but was interrupted by a coughing noise.

It was coming from the classroom Shirou's attack had knocked Lancer into. Among the rubble of the wall, Lancer stood, supported by his lance. There was blood coming from his mouth, and there was a new wound on his torso, another slash that formed an x along with Saber's earlier attack..

"I can't (cough) believe (cough) that I lost to some kid." He spoke, coughing. "Sorry, but my master is something of a coward, and he's ordered me to go back. We will settle this later."

Lancer jumped out one of the windows, leaving behind a pool of blood. Shirou was amazed that he could move with wounds like that.

Saber almost went after him, but remembered her masters wounds and decided that with how wounded Lancer had left he was not a big threat.

She turned to Shirou. "Are you alright master?"

Shirou wondered for a second what she meant, then looked down at his wounds. With a thought, cloth that had been wrapped around his cleavers hilt wrapped around his cuts.

_'Huh.'_ Shirou thought. _'That's a pretty useful ability. The cloth doesn't just unravel, it creates more of itself. I can just bandage myself whenever. Maybe I can extend it to throw it at something.'_

Saber was mildly impressed. It seemed she had at least a semi-useful master.

Shirou looked at her. Now that it appeared that the danger was over, he fully took in Saber's appearance. She looked to be a couple of years younger than him, but was very beautiful.

Her presence made Shirou feel, almost complete.

Shirou quickly shook his head of such thoughts. He could feel his face slightly reddening from his thoughts.

But now wasn't the time for that. Although she had helped him, she was still not human. He didn't know what her intentions were now that the fight was over.

"Who are you?" Shirou finally spoke.

Saber looked at him, confused. "I am the servant Saber. You summoned me, so you should not need to ask."

"Saber?" Shirou asked her. "What an odd name. My name is Shirou. Emiya Shirou."

"Wait, that's not the point, just what -" Shirou began to ask but was interrupted.

"I know. You are not a formal master correct? But don't worry, I have accepted the contract, so there is no need to worry." She spoke of things that sounded completely foreign to Shirou.

Shirou was about to speak when his hand suddenly burned.

He raised it and saw the skull with the crossing lines behind it, forming an x.

"Those are command seals master. They allow you to impart upon me any command, such as to come to your side and allowing me to instantly be there. Or commanding me to dodge, and allow me to dodge any attack. They are very valuable, so use them wisely." Saber spoke to him when she saw him looking.

Suddenly, they simultaneously stiffened. There was a presence coming, one that felt like Saber and Lancer. In his mind, Shirou cursed. _'Another one? How many of these guys are there!'_

They both turned around as a girl with black hair in pig tails, wearing a red shirt and black skirt came running into the hallway. She stopped when she saw them.

Behind her, there was a tall man with slicked back white hair, tanned, with black leather armor. He wore a red cloak around his shoulders, and a red skirt like piece of clothing around his waist.

The red figure Shirou had seen fighting Lancer.

…

_'It has started.'_ thought Archer. _'Soon, soon I will kill my past self. Finally, I will be free of this cursed life.'_

He followed Rin who was running through the hallways, after Lancer.

They felt a large spike of prana, and hurried up. Suddenly, they both froze as they came upon two individuals, a boy wearing a school uniform, a large cleaver in his hands, and a blond haired girl wearing what looked like medieval armor.

_'What is this?'_ thought Archer, total confusion in his mind, though he did not express anything outwardly.

_'What is Saber doing here? She isn't supposed to be here! She isn't supposed to be summoned until much later tonight! And the boy, he has a sword I've never seen before! I can't comprehend it. What is it? It feels of death, yet what is it made of? What is going on!?'_ Archer was thinking furiously, desperately trying to understand the situation.

Meanwhile, Rin had her own thoughts. _'I knew that Emiya was a magus! I knew it! He's a master too. He summoned Saber. Him of all people. That aura of power, he must be an incredibly strong magus.'_

…

Shirou was confused. "Tohsaka?" he asked the girl in red. "Tohsaka Rin?"

Shirou did not get much time to contemplate his thoughts however, when Saber blasted off towards the red figure.

Rin tensed, putting something into her hand that Shirou could not see. The figure in red immediately came in front of Rin, summoning a pair of swords in his hands.

"Stop!" Shirou cried out to her. Saber stopped her charge, confused.

"Master? What on Earth are you saying! This is the enemy servant, we can take them out right here and now!" Saber spoke to Shirou once again of things he could not understand.

"Please master, retract your order and let me fight!" Saber pleaded to Shirou.

The red figure and Rin seemed content to just stand there and watch Shirou and Saber argue. They were not attacking, and so Shirou thought that it wasn't right to attack them when they hadn't attacked first.

He also really just wanted to know what was going on already.

Scowling, Shirou looked to Saber and said, "Look, I don't understand any of this master business. But you're about to attack one of my classmates, and in addition someone who didn't attack first like that Lancer guy."

"Master, he is the enemy servant though, we have to defeat him here." Saber once again tried reasoning with her apparently foolish master.

"I don't care about that one bit. He may be your enemy, but I don't even know what the hell is going on! If your going to go and fight and call me your master, you should at least have the decency to explain things to me!" Shirou rebutted her.

"So that's how things are Emiya-kun?" Rin spoke. Still tense, Rin walked in front of her servant, wary about the orange haired magus with the strong prana, even now.

"Good evening Emiya-kun." Rin greeted him casually, completely ignoring the atmosphere.

"Wha-? This isn't time to be so calm and nonchalant about this situation. You-" Shirou spoke, dumbfounded at her attitude, but was interrupted.

"Yup. I'm a master too. In other words, a magus like you." Rin said.

Shirou scowled his infamous scowl, but was not surprised. There had always been something off to him about Tohsaka. Like she was hiding something.

That she was a magus was not very shocking to him, especially with the situation.

"Alright Archer, you can go to spirit from now. Your not needed anymore." Rin told the servant beside her.

The man disappeared.

"Alright then Emiya-kun, why don't we go into one of the classrooms and I'll explain the situation your in." Rin told him, then calmly walked into the room Lancer and Shirou first fought in.

The room was filled with broken chairs and desks. The floor had marks on it from Lancer and Shirou's fight.

Shirou wondered how the school would take this the next day.

Shirou looked at his sword. "Trace, off."

The sword disappeared in a swirl of black.

"Are you alright with this Saber?" Rin asked her as they followed them in, sitting at two of the desks that hadn't been knocked over. She didn't ask where the sword had gone.

"You spared my life, so I'll explain things to your master." She told Saber.

Saber had a serious expression on her face.

"As long as you are helping my master I will show no ill will. Be warned however that should you try anything, I will cut you down." Saber calmly told Rin.

Rin seemed a little unsettled by this, but nodded. Turning to Shirou she began to speak.

"You have been chosen to be a master Shirou. You have a marking somewhere on your hand or arm correct?" Rin asked Shirou.

Shirou nodded, looking at the skull on his hand.

"That is the sign of a master. It will allow you to give three absolute commands to Saber here. Things that allow her to break rules, such as teleporting to your side, or exceeding her limits in a single attack and such." Rin kept on explaining.

Shirou nodded once again. Saber had explained that much.

"To put it bluntly, you've been recruited into a game called the Holy Grail War. A battle, where seven magi and seven servants will fight to the death until there is one left. The winner, gets the Holy Grail a device that will grant any wish. That is one of the five remaining true magics, the Heavens Feel." she told Shirou.

Shirou was stunned. A fight to the death, between magi? Magi commanding servants, beings of power like Saber and Lancer? A true magic?

"That is the current situation. Do you have any questions?" Rin asked him.

Shirou understood one thing. There was no way out of this. To be a magi was to walk hand in hand with death. The other magi would hunt him down like a dog regardless of whether or not he wanted to participate.

Shirou looked at Saber. There was just one thing he didn't quite get.

"What exactly are servants Tohsaka? Saber mentioned a contract, and she was summoned, so is she some kind of familiar?" Shirou asked her.

"Servants are heroes from the pasts. You could call them similar to ghosts I suppose. They are summoned from the throne of heroes. Normally this would be a feat of true magic, but the grail is what really does the summoning. Because they are something like ghosts, they can also take spirit form, like I commanded my Archer to do." Rin responded back to him.

Shirou looked at Saber. This girl, this pretty girl was a hero from times past? Shirou could not remember any beautiful girl heroes, but he wasn't much into things like that so that wasn't surprising.

"Actually, Shirou did not seem to summon me correctly. I cannot go into spirit form as I am now." Saber spoke up.

"Really?" Rin asked, surprised. "I would figure a strong magus like Shirou would perform the summoning correctly."

"Actually, I didn't summon her. While I was fighting Lancer, the blood from my wounds just started to move and made a ritual circle." Shirou told Rin.

Rin seemed surprised. "So you really didn't have any idea of what's going on. Well, you had better fix your contract, not being able to get her into spirit form is probably taxing on you."

"Actually I have no idea how to do that. You keep calling me a strong magus, but really I can only do reinforcement and some odd form of projection." Shirou told her truthfully.

"Wait." Rin suddenly took a shift in personality. "Your telling me you can only use two useless skills as reinforcement and projection? Even with that strong amount of prana? You can't manipulate the five elements or make a pass?"

Shirou nodded.

Rin looked pissed. She gave Shirou a death glare and started mumbling something Shirou couldn't quite make out.

Something about worthless magi with strong prana but no skill summoning Saber.

"Fine. If your that sorry of a master we should go." Rin spoke up, still seeming angry, and starting to stand.

Shirou knew she was hiding something. She was only nice to him because she thought he was a strong magus.

"Go where?" Shirou asked, he and Saber standing up.

"Kotomine's church. The overseer of the grail war, that makes sure non-magi don't get involved, and records all the masters." Rin spoke harshly to him.

It seemed she was not happy he was such a crappy magus, Shirou mused.

…

They walked the entire journey in silence. Shirou had contemplated trying something to hide Saber's appearance, but as he didn't have anything on hand, and it was so late at night he decided not to.

_'Besides.'_ he mused. _'Anyone who does see her will probably think she's cosplaying.'_

Rin was a little cross with him he could tell. Well, who wouldn't be. He had such large prana that it rolled off of him. But he could only use two spells, and yet he had summoned Saber, the supposedly strongest servant.

They arrived at the church. Shirou frowned at the place. It looked like any ordinary church, but it gave off an aura of malice to him.

Beside Shirou, Saber spoke. "Master, if it is alright with you I will stand guard outside."

Shirou looked at her. "Alright. Be careful Saber."

Together, Rin and Shirou went inside.

"Hey fake-priest!" Rin called out. A man came out of a door near the back. He was dressed like a priest, and gave off a bad aura to Shirou.

Shirou slightly tensed when he saw him, and by the almost imperceptible narrowing of the mans eyes, he noticed.

Shirou forced himself to relax. The man in front of him gave off a bad vibe to him.

"Ah, Rin. Still disrespectful to your teacher I see." the man spoke.

"Whatever fake-priest." Rin scowled at him. It seemed she didn't like him.

"Look, I brought the seventh master here. He summoned Saber, but it looks like he doesn't have a clue of what's going on." Rin spoke to him.

"I see. Boy, what's your name?" the priest spoke to him.

"Emiya Shirou." Shirou spoke up.

The man almost imperceptibly tensed at the name Emiya. Most people wouldn't notice, and indeed before Shirou would not have, but many things seemed clearer to him when he learned Zangetsu's name.

His name unlocked a power in Shirou, and by the way he had fought Lancer, no matter how briefly, it increased his skills by a large amount.

Yet to Shirou, he felt as if he had only touched the surface of what he could do. It felt as if his power was a lake, and he was only gathering up a few drops from it when he used his power.

"Emiya Shirou." the man repeated. "My name is Kotomine Kirei. I am the overseer of this grail war. I make sure the fight stays contained, that no one learns of the existance of magi, to judge, and to provide sanctity if someone were to wish it if they lose their servant."

"Then, if you provide sanctity, the magi don't have to die? Just the servants?" Shirou questioned him.

"An astute observation. Yes that is correct, the grail receives the power from the servants battles, and only the servant need to power it. However, servants are beings of great power, and it is much easier to just kill the master, and leave the servant without a source of power to stay in this realm." Kirei responded.

"What exactly are servants?" Shirou asked him. "And what kind of a device is the grail, to be able to summon them?"

"Servants are heroes from times past, summoned from the throne of souls to fight. They fight and respond to their summons because they also want their wish granted." Kirei began to respond.

"The grail is not the cup from who Christ drank from in the final supper if that is what you think. In truth, it is a device made by magi to achieve one of the true magics, the Heavens Feel. Thus, some call this war the Heavens Feel ritual.

The grail is capable of granting any wish, no matter what it is. Most magi will use it to reach the spiral of origin, Akasha. Though, even for a device such as the grail, summoning seven servants is a bit beyond it.

What the grail does, is it makes seven archetypes, seven classes in which the servant is summoned in to before hand. The correct servant is summoned into the correct class.

These classes being: Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Assassin, Caster, and Berserker.

The war happens every sixty years, though for some reason it is fifty years early this time." Kirei explained.

"Wait." Shirou breathed. "If the war is fifty years early, then..."

"That's right." Kirei responded, an odd smile on his face. "The Fuyuki fire. Where hundreds died. That was a result of the last war, when someone who was not worthy touched the grail."

Shirou took a deep breath. "I had already decided to join in this war. This clinches it. I will fight this war, and win. So that nothing like what happened ten years ago happens again."

Kirei looked at Shirou, an expression on his face that Shirou could not make out. "Excellent. Welcome to the fifth Holy Grail War, master of Saber."

Shirou and Rin, who had not spoken the entire time, but looked to have calmed down a little, turned and started walking towards the exit.

"Rejoice Emiya." Shirou heard behind him. "Your wish will soon be granted."

Shirou did not turn back.

…

Outside, Shirou greeted Saber. "It seems that we will be fighting together Saber. Please take care of me."

Saber had a pleased smile on her face. Shirou felt his face redden a bit. _'What is with this?'_ he questioned himself. Why did she have to be so pretty?

"I'm glad to hear that master. Please, take care of me as well." She responded back.

Shirou sighed. "My name is Shirou Saber. Not master. Actually, I haven't asked you properly yet, but can I call you Saber?"

"Of course mas- Shirou. You may call me Saber. And Shirou, I like the sound of that." she responded back to him.

Shirou once again felt his face redden. She had called him Shirou. Such familiarity. Still, he liked the way his name sounded coming out of her mouth, so he said nothing.

"Alright then Emiya-kun." Rin spoke to him after having watched his and Saber's small exchange.

"It seems that you understand your situation now. I've been nice to you tonight, but from tomorrow onwards, we're enemies." she told him.

Shirou was not surprised she would say that. She was a magus, he was lucky that she had explained anything to him. He accepted the fact that although she had helped him tonight, he would not be so lucky next time.

"Alright, I get it. Thank you for all the trouble you've gone to to help me tonight. You know, you're not a bad person. I like people like you." he told her, a rare smile on his face.

Rin's entire face seemed to redden. Shirou wondered briefly if she was sick, but dismissed it.

She was probably just tired from the long night. He knew he was.

"W-well, w-whatever." she stuttered out. "J-just remember that tomorrow on we're enemies. Good night Emiya-kun."

She seemed a bit pleased, though he did not know why.

Rin and Shirou both turned to leave, but were interrupted by a voice calling out to them.

"Good evening, Onii-san." they both turned down the road and saw a little girl with white hair and red eyes calling out to them.

It was the little girl that had kicked Shirou in a _very_ uncomfortable place the day before. Shirou unconsciously winced and crossed his legs. That kick had hurt.

Saber's eyes widened a little when she saw the girl, but shook her head. There was no way this was Irisviel's daughter. She was too young.

She was probably just a homunculus made by the Einzbern.

She walked up to them. "I see you've summoned your servant Onii-san. Good. You know Onii-san, when I found out you existed I was really eager to play with you."

"Who are you?" asked Shirou, sensing hostility from her.

The girl giggled. "My name is Ilyasviel von Einzbern. How do you do, Onii-san."

Rin tensed, and spoke quickly to Shirou. "This is bad. The Einzbern are a really old family of magi, and they always send someone to compete. They helped make the ritual."

Shirou was skeptical, this little girl, a master?

That quickly ended however, when the girl snapped her finger and called out, "Berserker!"

A figure appeared behind her, and they all stiffened. Archer came out of spirit form behind Rin, hands tensed. _'Well, this is the same at least.'_ thought Archer. _'It was probably just a fluke that Saber was summoned early. That sword is worrying, but it's probably nothing.'_

Archer did not realize just how wrong he was.

Shirou was frozen. This figure, Lancer had been strong, but with his power up he could almost match him. This creature however, was on a different level.

Killing intent filled the air, a black aura covered the beasts form. It was growling, seemed mindless. This girl could control that thing?

It was on an entirely different level from Lancer.

"Onii-san." Ilya called out to him in a sweet voice. "Won't you die for me?"

Berserker roared. That was when all hell broke loose.

Prana burst out around Saber's form. She once again marveled at the power her master fed her through the connection, but quickly cleared her mind. This was life or death.

Beside her, Shirou, Rin and Archer also prepared themselves.

Rin put a couple of jewels in her hands, two swords appeared in Archer's hands. One was black, the other white.

Shirou incanted, "Trace, on." Power burst from Shirou in much the same way that it did Saber.

Instead of white tinged blue however, his was an aura of black, tinged in a blood red. In his hands, a large cleaver appeared, bandages wrapping the hilt.

Archer and Rin, who had not seen him fight with Lancer, looked at him in amazement.

Archer was shocked at this. _'What is this? My past self is not supposed to be able to Trace!? And what power! Is this really me?'_

Now even more worried than he was before, Archer concentrated on Berserker. He remembered how hard this battle was, and decided to worry later.

Rin had her own thoughts. _'This crappy magus is able to do this? This amount of prana, no, it doesn't feel like it. It's similar to prana, but it feels, somehow, heavy? And that sword, is that his projection?'_

Archer and Rin did not have time to contemplate however, because while they were thinking, Berserker had attacked.

Saber charged herself with prana, and burst forward yelling at Shirou to stay back. Now, in her fight with Lancer, she was in a hallway. It was small, and she did not have much time to move.

Now out in the open however, she seemed to disappear and instantly reappear in front of Berserker in a movement faster than the eye could follow when she reinforced herself with prana and stepped forward.

Saber had a shocked look on her face. _'What was that? I've never gotten such speed out of my prana burst. I covered that in an instant. It was like, my feet didn't even touch the ground until I was in front of him.'_

Berseker had a large sword in his hand. No, to call it a sword would be an insult to swords.

It was a large block of cement, fashioned to look like a sword.

It was blunt, and did not have an edge.

Berserker reacted instantly. He immediately swung his sword toward her. She gracefully dodged, and swung her own sword towards him.

…

**With Shirou**

As Saber burst forward, Shirou studied her. That burst of prana to reinforce herself, it looked like what he did. He could only use reinforcement magic, on his sword and on himself.

She seemed to use it in the same way. He saw how she gathered in her legs and blasted off in a movement even his new senses couldn't follow.

He grinned. _'Alright, so I think she did it like this...'_ he thought, charging prana to his legs. He also took a step forward.

And promptly crashed into, and broke, a tree twice the distance he was aiming for away.

Groaning, he stood up and looked back. Ilyasviel had seen his attempt to imitate Saber and was looking at him and giggling.

His attempt had also woken Rin and Archer from their stupor. Rin was openly laughing at him. He saw her mutter something to Archer.

_'How embarrassing.'_ he thought, palming his forehead, when he remembered he was in a death match.

He looked at the fight, worriedly. He didn't think Saber would be able to stand up to that monster.

He blinked though, as he saw her keeping pace.

…

**With Saber**

_'This Berserker is a tough opponent.'_ thought Saber, as Berserker once again blocked her sword.

Berserker was a fighter that had no style. His swings looked completely random, he had no grace, and no form of combat.

However, those were things that humans made to cover their own weakness. Humans were naturally weaker than almost any other being, and so they made styles of combat to make up for it.

Kendo, fencing, karate, etc. All made to make up for human weakness.

Berserker however, was most definitely _not_ human, and did not need any of that. He had more than enough speed and power to make up for that.

_'However.'_ Saber mused, _'My master is supplying me so much prana, I'm easily keeping up. Kiritsugu gave me enough, but I'm stronger than I was even with him.'_

Saber matched Berserker blow for blow. She was twirling around him in a dance, as berserker attempted to crush her.

She swung at his head, but missed. Berserker aimed at her, trying to crush her with his overwhelming strengh. She moved, but his sword nicked her side, and her armor cracked. She made a slight grimace o pain, but healed her armor.

He was strong, she would have to be more careful.

Berserker seemed happy with his small success, for he swung his sword at her with more force.

She blocked, and instead of being thrown away, she stood her ground, the ground beneath her feet cracking.

Charging her sword with prana, she stepped forward, and gave an overhead slash. Berserker blocked, and the ground beneath him cracked.

Suddenly, she felt her master attempt to use her prana burst.

Saber sighed as she saw him appear a ways away from her, onto a tree.

As she traded blows, she saw Rin and Archer come out of their stupor. She saw Rin tell something to Archer, to which he nodded and his swords disappeared, replaced by a bow.

Berserker roared and swung, but was interrupted by a barrage of arrows. Saber threw herself back, just in time for the arrows to hit both Berserker, and the ground she had been standing in.

They had no effect on berserker though, simply disappearing on contact.

More and more arrows flew into him, like a machine gun. About as strong too.

…

**With Rin and Archer**

Rin came out of her stupor as she saw Shirou try to use Saber's technique. She laughed out loud when he hit a tree, though she stopped quickly, remembering her situation.

Looking to Archer, she told him, "Alright Archer, show me what you can really do. Prove to me you're worthy of the title Archer."

He looked at her a little lazily and responded in the affirmative. He quickly erased his swords, and made a bow in his hands.

He quickly jumped onto a building and made an arrow. Wellm arrow was not the right word. It was a sword, twisted into a screw shape, which he quickly knocked into his bow, and fired.

He fired like a machine gun, and his arrows were about as fast and as string.

Archer made a Tch sound when he saw they did nothing. Quickly making more, he continuously fired.

…

**With Shirou**

Shirou looked at Rin with anger when a few seconds later, arrows came out of the air and almost hit Saber.

He ran to Saber, not using that burst this time. He didn't want to crash into Berserker.

Seeing he had his back turned, he slashed forward like he had with Lancer, the same blue crescent beam coming out of his slash.

He grinned when it impacted, but was shocked when he still stood, no noticeable damage on him.

Berserker turned to him and roared.

"Shirou!" Saber called out to him.

She used her burst, and appeared in front of him, just as Berserker almost hit him in the face.

She blocked the strike, the sound of thunder roaring out.

Shocked, he could only stare at her.

"Shirou, I told you to stay back!" she exclaimed to him, holding Berserker back. Strangely, no more arrows were coming.

"That attack may have worked on Lancer, but this servant is on an entirely different level! He will kill you if you try to fight him." she spoke to him honestly, but he stood in shock.

Was this really all he could do?

He had received such a large increase in power, but against Lancer, against Berserker, was he really that useless!?

He shook in fear. He took steps backwards, tripping and falling down, numb, even as Saber led Berserker away.

Berserker was more than twice his strength. He was beyond him. He had almost died.

This was fear, he wondered, staring at Saber fighting Berserker.

He wanted to run. He desperately wanted, no, needed to run. He would die here. He would die here!

He froze however, when in his mind he heard something. _'So, this is the extent that you will go? This is the extent of your power? My wielder is a coward that won't fight with his nakama?'_

Shirou felt rage course through his veins. _'I am no coward!'_ He internally shouted out.

_'Then stand! Even when the odds are against you, stand, and fight!_

_Will you let Saber die because you were a coward!'_ Zangetsu roared at him.

He looked at her. She was starting to tire. She was panting as she fought, the sound of steel against rock filling the air.

_'Have you already forgotten what I taught you! The words that I spoke to you when you first shouted my name? Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop.'_ Zangetsu told him.

Shirou stood, his orange hair covering his eyes. "You will age if you pull back." he muttered.

Ilya looked at him, confused. Rin was also looking at him, wondering what it was that he had said.

"And you will die IF YOU HESITATE!" he roared out, once again using Saber's prana burst. This time however, he did not crash into anything.

He appeared in front of Saber, who looked shocked at his appearance.

"Shirou, did I not tell you to sta-" she was interrupted when Shirou roared, pressure bursting out of him that almost sent her to her knees.

A few feet away, Ilya and Rin did fall on their knees at the sudden pressure.

A skull formed behind Shirou, as he began to scream words out.

Suddenly, with his belief Shirou knew. Earlier that night, against Lancer he had wondered, why his new spell did not have an incantation. Now he knew.

His new mystery was incomplete. Weak. He had not had the resolve. But now he had. He had just met this girl named Saber. The girl that made him feel something.

Had he not proclaimed that he would not let anyone die this war? Had he not promised to get the grail? So that no one would have to die?

Ilya was looking at him with slight fear. _'What, is this pressure?'_ she wondered.

Rin was also staring at him. _'What is with him? Isn't he supposed to be a weak magus? Someone who I would go after last because he is the weakest master?'_

She looked back to where Archer had gone, telling her to move away, that he had a plan.

_'How long are you going to take, Archer!'_ she thought.

Shirou made poured prana into his sword. He now also understood the nature of this spell. It was not a beam.

It was his slash, magnified many times over by his prana. So strong it kept on going and simply looked like a beam.

"GETSUGA-" he began, pulling his sword back.

"TENSHO!" he yelled out, a huge slash coming out of his sword, hitting Berserker, and this time sending him flying into a graveyard.

Everyone looked at him with pure shock on their faces.

Saber looked at him, shock on her face. _'My master.'_ she decided, looking at his completely serious face. _'Has much steel in him.'_

-End of chapter 2-

**AN: Well, there you have it. A day early too! Once again, thanks to everyone who has seen this story. I did not expect anywhere near the amount of attention it got.**

**Once again, please review and tell me your thoughts on this chapter. Your reviews actually inspired me quite a bit.**

**Check out Gazzadcs story Remaking a Saber and her Sheath. Without him, I wouldn't have gotten the inspiration to make this story.**

**Japanese Terms**

**Onii-san – Big brother**

**-kun – A term of affection for males**

**Getsuga Tensho – Moon Fang Heaven Piercer**

**Ja Ne – See Ya!**

**I believe that's it for terms. If I missed something please tell me and I'll fix it.**

**Thank you to everyone reading. I'll have chapter 3 out in about another week.**

**Ja Ne!**


	3. Zangetsu

He Who Protects the Living

**AN: It seems that I have once again been stunned into silence at how many people like this story of mine. I did not think this would be this popular until it was finished. Shows how much I know, huh? Thank you to everyone who has read this story of mine. Really, thank you so much.**

**A few notes: Power levels**

**In this story at least, most Servants are Captain Class. Weaker servants are Lieutenant Class, but no lower than that. Got it memorized?**

**Some people have asked, so yes, there will be a sequel that will cover Bleach. The canon, the filler arcs, original arcs I have planned, and the movies. It's going to be a ridiculously long ride.**

**Once again, if anyone can figure out the nature of Shirou's Tracing, I will answer any question you have about this story.**

**I believe that's it. Feel free to PM me, or review if you have any questions. I will try my hardest to answer. Notes on Chapter progress are on my profile.**

**Jermillion – You'll just have to wait and see if Gil tries to take his sword.**

**I just realized, I don't have any disclaimers. So here is one:**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Fate/Stay Night, not Bleach, nor anything else. Now I can't get sued. Hoorah!**

_Last Time: "GETSUGA-" he began, pulling his sword back._

"_TENSHO!" he yelled out, a huge slash coming out of his sword, hitting Berserker, and this time sending him flying into a graveyard._

_Everyone looked at him with pure shock on their faces._

_Saber looked at him, shock on her face. 'My master.' she decided, looking at his completely serious face. 'Has much steel in him.'_

Chapter 3: Zangetsu

Shirou stared the place where he had blown Berserker down. He could see some spirits that had been there trying to get away from the beast.

There were not many spirits in Fuyuki city. There were always some, most commonly in places like that graveyard, but they always seemed to pass on quickly. That little boy he had defended what seemed like a life time ago was probably already gone. Some lasted longer than others, but they always left in the end. He had tried to find Kiritsugu's ghost after he had died, but could not for some reason.

Shirou simply thought he had no regrets, and so did not need to linger in this world. It had made Shirou sad at first, but he had accepted it and was happy for him.

They always left completely without warning. He had never actually seen a spirit disappear, but many spirits had told him they were consumed in some sort of black mud, then they were gone.

He assumed the black mud was something akin to their souls breaking down as they left this life.

"Alright Ilya, your servant is dead. It's time for us to talk." he told her, as he and Saber turned around to face her.

T.T

Rin stared at Shirou, trying to comprehend what she had just seen. A master capable of killing a Servant? That was impossible!

Shirou was supposed to be some third rate magus who only really knew two useless spells. Rin felt anger enter her body. Had Shirou been tricking her from the very start. She also felt a little bit of hurt.

A flash of Shirou giving her one of his rare smiles. _'I like people like you.'_

For some reason that no one knew, Shirou almost always had a scowl on his face. Many girls thought he would be a good person to date, but he seemed unapproachable.

Was he just trying to get her guard down so he could win. _'So that was it.'_ Rin thought bitterly. _'He was just trying to get my guard down so that he could get the grail by beating me easily.'_

She looked at his sword. He had said projection, but she didn't believe it. That sword, must be a mystic code, or perhaps even a Noble Phantasm.

She turned to where she could feel Archer getting ready for something big. _'Archer, you'd better get him for this.'_

She felt him tell her to go, and she decided to go. Shirou was obviously an enemy, so there was no reason to cooperate with him any longer.

T.T

Ilya was shocked. _'Everyone always said that Onii-san was a worthless magus. That he was trash, trash that Kiritsugu had left me for.'_

Ilya quickly recovered though, feeling anger coursing through her body. He wasn't supposed to fight back. He was supposed to just suffer and die for all the pain and loneliness that Ilya had felt when Kiritsugu had abandoned her.

She also felt a sense of conflict arise inside of her. She remembered how he tried to be kind to her, only for her to pay him back a little unkindly.

Flashback

"_Hey, what's a little girl like you doing out here all along?" he asked the girl, who turned to him with a surprised look on her face. "It's dangerous to be out alone at night these days, where are your parents? Never mind, come on I'll walk you home."_

_Ilya looked at him with a stunned face. She didn't know what to do, she hadn't expected him to do anything like this. Conflicted, she quickly kicked him in between the legs and ran away._

Flashback End

Shirou was surprised when instead of surrendering or something similar, Ilya started to giggle at him, rather coldly at that.

"Onii-san, did you really think it would be that easy?" she asked him, the same cold smile on her face. "I am impressed at that sword though. What is it, a Noble Phantasm? A mystic code?"

Shirou simply looked at her, confused. "Oh well." Ilya sighed.

"I made sure I would have the best servant for this grail war. The greatest hero of Greece, Hercules!" she proclaimed to him.

What!?

Rin startled, asked her, "You can't mean-"

"That's right!" Ilya replied. "It doesn't matter if you take one or two lives, because my servant is the strongest! No matter how hard you try, he's beyond your level!"

Shirou narrowed his eyes at that and looked back to where he could see Berserker standing up, his wounds healing.

He readied himself as he tried to remember what he could about Hercules. _'The twelve labors!'_ he realized. He must have twelve lives in that case. He scowled however when he could not remember any weaknesses.

Deciding that waiting for Berserker to come to him would be pointless, he looked at Saber and told her, "I'm fighting too now. You got a problem with that, you can save it for after we win."

Saber looked at him with frown on her face. "That is unacceptable Shirou. Although you have somewhat proven your strength, this fight is still beyond you." A loud roar interrupted her.

"It looks like you've got other things to worry about then whether or not I'm fighting." Shirou stated to her, a smirk on his face.

Saber scowled, but nodded her head reluctantly. There were more important thing going on at the moment.

Together, they blurred out of existence and appeared in front of Hercules. Without giving him any time to react, together they reinforced their swords and swung towards him, sending him flying backwards.

"We just have to kill him nine more times!" Shirou yelled at Saber. She nodded in the affirmative, and they once again blurred and appeared behind Berserker, giving him simultaneous slashes that sent him into the ground.

Shirou blocked an overhead strike, gritting his teeth as he felt his feet sink into the ground. Although he could now almost keep pace with Berserker, he was getting weaker fast. His prana levels were dropping.

That Getsuga Tensho had taken a lot out of him.

He was steadily growing weaker. He could feel his muscles straining every time he blocked, every time he hit Berserker's body.

Berserker was upon him like a beast, making mad slashes so fast they almost seemed to come simultaneously. Shirou dodged, weaving in and out desperately.

He felt cuts begin to litter his body as debris hit him. As Berserker came so close to taking his arm off a gash went up and down it.

Saber thrusted her sword forward towards Berserker's heart, only for his sword to come up and block. She was doing much better than Shirou. Whereas Shirou could barely keep up, Saber was almost on Berserker's own level.

It seemed however, that Saber was tiring with him. She hid it well, but he could tell when he saw that she was that little bit slower, just that little bit more out of breath.

Berserker was desperately swinging his 'sword' around. He could sense the danger the two posed to him.

His mad slashes, attacks without thought pelted the two constantly. There was no strategy behind his attacks, just pure thoughtless brute strength.

Shirou threw himself behind a gravestone, one of the many that were in the graveyard, Berserker smashing through it but giving Saber enough time to attack his head. Berserker ignored it, the attack did nothing.

Saber cursed as she realized what that meant.

Saber jumped back, as Berserker tried to swat her away. "Shirou, it appears only attacks of a certain level will harm him."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Shirou enveloped himself in black prana to get behind him and shouted, "Getsuga Tensho!"

The same blue slash that had taken three of its lives came out, hitting his head. He was quickly pulled back by Saber however, when Berserker turned around and obliterated the ground where he had been a moment before.

"It appears that Berserker gains a resistance to whatever it is that kills it." Saber told him, a grimace on her face.

Shirou scowled, looking back at Berserker. This fight had just gotten much harder.

"I had not wanted to do this, because my Noble Phantasm's attack destroys much of the environment, but it seems we don't have a choice here." Saber stated, wind starting to come out of her sword like a hurricane. Berserker roared, sensing something that could kill him, and almost instantly appeared in front of them.

Shirou immediately blocked, groaning as his muscles strained under the great blow. Shirou unleashed his prana, pressure filling the air, as he jumped up into the air. He charged his legs with prana, planning to use it to land safely behind him.

It did not quite work out that way however, when Shirou found himself standing in the air. Bewildered, Shirou stood on the air, hesitating for a split second. That however, was enough.

Berserker immediately took advantage, swatting Shirou aside with his piece of concrete, and charging towards Saber. He stopped however, sensing something off, turning his attention to the sky.

Saber took advantage of this, stopping her Invisible Air and blurring toward her master. Shirou laid half way buried in dirt. Saber decided her masters safety to be more important, and picked him up to take him to Rin, as Berserker stayed distracted.

She hesitated however, when she also felt something off. Turning to where Berserker was looking, her eyes widened, and she sped out, as Berserker held his sword at the ready, roaring as a loud boom tore through the area.

And the world burned.

T.T

Archer was running through the city, trying to get to a good vantage point. He finally stopped about a mile from the battle, looking at the place with a scowl on his face.

What was with that sword? Archer could not remember having ever having had a sword like that. He suddenly saw a large flash of blue coming from the battlefield.

_'That wasn't Rin. She doesn't have magecraft like that. It wasn't Saber either, Excalibur is gold. That only leaves one person.'_ Archer thought.

He had been elated when he had seen that he had been summoned for the Holy Grail War. Finally, he could kill himself and save himself the pain of being a Counter Guardian. The pain of his ideals being shattered.

But what was going on? Saber was summoned hours early in the school, that cleaver, this flash of blue light.

This wasn't the grail war he remembered. Remembering Shirou, he wondered, why were things different? Archer had not done anything to change what had happened.

He entertained the thought that this was not his past, and killing Shirou would do nothing, but shook his head of it. No, it had to work. Killing his younger more naive self was the only way. It just had to work. But still.

His younger self was more skilled. He could seemingly already Trace. Actually, wasn't his hair a slightly different color... Archer suddenly felt a surge of pain go through his head.

He gasped, holding it. Various things flew through his mind, everything to fast to see or recall, except for the image of a woman. Feeling a connection, he tried to reach out to her, but was suddenly brought back.

Gasping and shaking his head, he saw the same blue light flash once again. He decided he could wonder what that was later, and quickly Traced his bow. Tracing a sword, he quickly altered it into a screw shape and knocked it on his bow.

Archer began to chant a line of aria that seemed to reverberate throughout the area. "I am the bone of my sword."

Staring down where he would fire, he quickly called out to Rin in his mind, telling her to get her ass out of there. Drawing back, he charged the sword with prana, more than it could handle.

The sword became unstable, dangerous. Broken. Archer so invoked, "Caladbolg!" the screw shaped sword traveling the mile in nearly an instant.

T.T

Saber, and Shirou, whom the loud boom had awakened, looked back as a miniature sun tore apart the area they were previously in. Saber counted her lucky stars that her burst seemingly made her so fast, as if she had been just a few seconds slower, who knew what would have happened.

They stood on the vacant street, moonlight streaming down, watching as the light died down and the presence of Berserker disappeared. They also could not feel Rin or Archer, which they took as them having left.

Relaxing as no more threats seemed to be in the area, they looked at each other. Saber took in her master's haggard appearance, cuts and gashes littering his body. He had once again used the bandages on his swords hilt to wrap his wounds, but blood stained his clothing.

Her master was still breathing hard, his sword stabbed onto the ground and holding him up. Saber decided to start.

"That definitely took at least one of Berserker's lives." Saber told Shirou.

"It appears so." Shirou agreed. "It also seems that Tohsaka wasn't kidding when she said that we were enemies. That must have been Archer who shot that. She tried to kill us."

Shirou scowled, lost in thought. Though he had never admired Tohsaka, like most did at his school, he had thought that she was warming up to him when she had taken her time to explain things to him.

He had thought that perhaps she was different. Someone he would be able to count on. But she had attacked him, tried to kill him.

It seemed that she was a typical magus after all.

"We can't count on her for help if we need it." Shirou reluctantly admitted.

Saber also had a small frown on her face that, despite the situation, Shirou couldn't help but find cute.

"I had also thought that although Tohsaka-san said we would be enemies that she would ally with us after seeing this threat. The great Hercules indeed." Saber told Shirou.

"Well," Shirou began. "Although Hercules wasn't known to have any weaknesses, I think he won't be much of a threat because he seemed mindless. Although I found my second wind," here Saber looked at him strangely for calling his taking three of Berserker's lives him getting a second wind.

"And it allowed me to fight him, I would have been killed almost immediately if he could think and plan out his attacks." Shirou admitted with a scowl.

"That is why I don't want you to fight Shirou!" Saber insisted at him, a glare on her face. A shiver ran down Shirou's spine.

"We are extremely lucky that a servant as strong as Hercules was summoned under the Berserker class. If he could think, with that Noble Phantasm, he could have easily killed us both!" Saber tried to knock sense into Shirou.

Shirou was not about to back down though. "And if I had not stepped in, he could have killed you!" he retorted. "I'm not about to be such a jackass as to let a girl fight on her own! I can fight, so to protect all of my friends, to protect Fuji-nee, Sakura, Issei, Saber, all the innocents, I will fight with my own two hands!"

Saber was taken aback when she was listed as one of his people to protect, but quickly fought back.

"Shirou I have told you many times already tonight to not treat me as a woman!" Saber shot back at him. "It matters not what gender I am, I am a tool to be used! I am a servant, a tool of war. It is my place to fight, and your place to support from behind."

"I can't support you from behind!" Shirou told her. "My place is fighting on the front lines. I accepted to be a master so that I could prevent what happened ten years ago from happening again." At this Saber winced a bit, remembering her participation in that event.

"I'm going to fight so that never happens again!" Shirou finished, panting. Saber looked at him, somewhat conflicted.

"Fine." Saber acquiesced. "However, if you're going to fight, I'm going to make sure that you won't die. On the morrow, I will begin to train you. I will try my hardest to make you see reason."

Shirou blinked, but accepted this compromise. "Fine. I will train hard enough that even you won't be able to keep up at the end."

They stood for a while, glaring at each other, before they were interrupted by Shirou suddenly yawning. Saber blinked, watching as an embarrassed red ran up Shirou's face before she told him, "We've spent enough time here."

"Exhaustion is the enemy here Shirou. If you are to fight, then you must rest." Saber told him.

"Yeah. That at least I can agree with. Come on, lets go to my house." Shirou told her, as they went down the path to Shirou's home.

T.T

Ilya saw Rin start to run away, but thought nothing of it. She was more concerned with Shirou's death. She could hear the furious sounds of battle. She saw the blue attack's flash once again and smirked.

_'You're not going to beat my Berserker with the same attack over and over again, Onii-san.'_ she thought.

Suddenly, wind tore through the night. Trees started to blow back, and Ilya held her hat as the wind pushed her back. It died down as soon as it started however, leaving Ilya wondering what that had been, until a loud boom tore through the area.

This time, Ilya did fall on her butt, catching a faint glimpse of one of the arrows Archer had been shooting going so fast she barely saw it for a fraction of a second before it was gone.

Ilya had wondered where Archer had gone, but had been unconcerned with it as all his attempts to injure Berserker had borne no fruit.

She looked to where the arrow had been going, only to suddenly have to look away because of a miniature sun forming in the graveyard.

Blinking away stars, ears ringing, she stood and cursed as she felt one of Berserker's lives get taken. She strained her senses, but could not feel the prana of either Shirou or Saber.

She remembered Rin running away. Ilya's anger showed as she began yelling at the air, face red. The conflicted emotions she had felt toward Shirou disappeared, to be replaced by anger.

Being unable to sense Shirou or Saber, Rin running away, that arrow, it was clear to her that Shirou and Rin were allies. Now she knew the real reason that they had been together when she had come to kill Shirou.

Shirou and Rin had worked together to escape and plan, and now Berserker was four lives down.

Trying desperately to calm herself down, she yelled out, "Berserker, come, we're going back!"

Feeling Berserker go into spirit form, she stormed back to the Einzbern manor.

T.T

Shirou and Saber quickly arrived at his house. Saber took a look at it and was slightly impressed.

"Do you have any defenses here, Shirou?" she questioned him.

"Well, there's an alert boundary field for when strangers try to break in, that's it." Shirou stated as they walked in, taking his shoes off.

"Come on, choose whatever room you want to sleep in." he told her as they went deeper into the house.

"That is unnecessary Shirou." Saber stated. "You are providing enough prana through the contract. Although it appears that I cannot enter spirit form, perhaps because it wasn't a formal summon, I will stand guard as you rest."

"What?" Shirou questioned. "No, no, no, no, no." He denied, stopping in a hallway.

"You can't stay in the same room I will be sleeping in. It isn't proper for a boy and a girl to be in the same room at night. And besides that, it doesn't matter if you're getting enough prana, you're clearly tired, you need your rest." Shirou spoke to her.

"I cannot allow this Shirou." Saber disagreed. "I must stay in the same room as you so as to properly protect you. And I have told you time and time again that my gender should not be of any significance to you!

I am a tool who's soul purpose is to help you get the Grail. To protect you I must stay as close to you as possible." Saber finished, expecting her argument to convince Shirou.

"Denied." Shirou stated frankly.

"W-what!" Saber stuttered out.

"I'm not letting you stay in the same room as me. It's indecent. Besides that, I can protect myself. I fought perfectly fine against Berserker." Shirou stated, though he knew that without Saber's help he would have died.

Saber was conflicted, but decided to not argue further as her master had a point. A master that could fight on close terms with a servant was nothing to scoff at.

"Very well." Saber reluctantly agreed. "I do not however need rest, I can take watch on the roof."

Shirou sighed at her stubbornness. "You need your rest. You look tired, and sleep must help at least some with that. Here, there's a room right beside mine. You can rest in there, and that way protect me if something happens."

Saber once again reluctantly agreed to his compromise. Although she did not like it, it was better than the alternatives.

Leading her to her room and grabbing a futon for her to sleep on, Shirou went to his own room and laid down.

Staring at the ceiling he took in all that had happened that day. His 'fight' with Lancer. Saber's summoning. Meeting Rin. The church. Ilyasviel's attack. Rin's betrayal.

A lot had happened, and he felt that his life would never be the same again. He closed his eyes and almost instantly fell asleep.

T.T

Shirou's eyes opened and he stumbled as he saw himself in a desert with swords sticking into the ground as far as he could see.

Looking around, he remembered. _'This is where I met that old man Zangetsu. My soul he called it.'_

Taking the time to really look around, he noticed for the first time, that in the distance in the sky, were skyscrapers. These skyscrapers however, seemed to be jutting out sideways out of darkness.

Suddenly, the old man appeared. He looked the same as he had last time, sunglasses, coat like flames and all.

"Welcome back, Ichigo. It seems you've gotten yourself involved in a dangerous situation." the figure stated.

"Why do you keep on calling me Ichigo when my name is Shirou?" Shirou questioned. He stared at the man. Why was this guy in his soul?

"Once upon a time, you were called Kurosaki Ichigo. Now you are called Emiya Shirou." responded the figure.

Shirou felt numb. After he had been adopted, he had never wondered at his origins. He was satisfied with what he had. He was happy. But this man...

"Y-you know my origins? Just who are you?" Shirou managed to choke out.

"Why yes Ichigo. I do. I have been here, for all your life. I have followed you, heard you, seen you through everything. Your beginning, your life with Kiritsugu, now through this." Zangetsu started.

"Have you never wondered where your sword came from?" Zangetsu questioned.

Shirou scowled, sweat dropping down his brow. "I did, Kiritsugu and I both did. It just, came out when he started to train me."

"The truth is Ichigo, I am your sword. I am your power. And, in a way, I am you." Zangetsu stated.

Shirou looked at him, trembling. "Y-your ME!?" he half shouted.

"That's right Ichigo. You see, you call your sword, your abilities, magecraft. But what you are doing is not magecraft. I am not just some mere sword. I am what is called, a Zanapkutou." Zangetsu revealed to Ichigo.

"And you Ichigo, are a shinigami." Zangetsu told him, completely serious.

Shirou fainted.

**A few minutes later**

"Okay." said Shirou, now more calm. "You called me a shinigami, and yourself a zanpakutou." Zangetsu nodded.

"You also said that what I am actually doing is not magecraft. If so, what is it then?" Shirou asked him.

"Shinigami use power known as reiryoku." Zangetsu started. "Reiryoku is like prana in many ways. The substance that magi call 'mana' shinigami call reishi. The difference between shinigami and magi is that a shinigami's reiryoku comes from within them.

Magi absorb the mana from the air, and process it through their magic circuits. The result is called od, a magus's internal source of power. Shinigami's reiryouku is their life energy, used for things such as battle, and it is naturally much stronger because it is not processed by magic circuits.

Like magi, shinigami can absorb the reishi in the air, to a much more limited extent. It can be gathered to stand on the air, as you discovered in your battle with Berserker.

When reiryoku comes out of their bodies, it is in pressure. This pressure is called reiatsu. All living things have some form of reiatsu. Through reiatsu, one can be tracked, sense power levels, exert force on the world as pressure, etc.

Do you understand so far?" Zangetsu finished.

Shirou nodded. "Mana is called reishi by shinigami. A shinigami's power source is called reiryoku, which is similar to od, but stronger as it isn't processed by magic circuits. Reiatsu is the pressure exerted from a shinigami's power source. I just have a few questions." Shirou stated.

"If I have reiryoku isntead of prana, then why is it that I can use Structural Analysis?" Shirou asked.

"I'm not sure." Zangetsu answered. "It is a spell for magi, yet you can use it. When you use reinforcement, your really just loading yourself and me with reiryoku, which strengthens us. Structural Analysis however, is a mystery to me. There are some parts to your power which I don't uderstand myself."

Shirou frowned. The more questions that were answered, the more that opened up.

"If shinigami really are Soul Reapers, then why have I never seen one? Shouldn't they reap the spirits in Fuyuki?" Shirou asked.

Zangetsu frowned. "That is another good question. Another that I rather unfortunately, do not have the answer to. The main job of a shinigami is to be a keeper of balance. They take souls to the afterlife, the Soul Society, and kill beings known as hollows.

A hollow forms when the chain on a spirit eats away at it until a hole forms. From there a mask comes out and they change into beasts that devour souls in order to try and fill the void left behind. A zanpakutou does not kill them, but rather cleanses their spirit and sends them onwards to the cycle of reincarnation.

If the soul was evil in life, then they are sent to hell.

They also send spirits to the Soul Society by performing a ritual known as Konso, by butting the pommel of the zanpakutou onto the spirit's forehead. Other spirits have described the disappearing souls as consumed by a black mud. I'm not sure what this could be.

This is they neither turning into hollows, or going to the Soul Society. That you have never seen either with your amount of reiryoku is somewhat troubling." Zangetsu explained.

Shirou thought things over. All of this sounded surreal. Like he was dreaming. "You are dreaming Ichigo." Zangetsu reminded him.

"Shut up, you know what I mean." Shirou waved his hand at Zangetsu.

He thought back to what Zangetsu had first told him. _'My past...'_

"Wait." Shirou suddenly thought. "If you know my past, then did my parents die in the fire?"

Zangetsu sighed. "I had hoped you would not realize for a while. After all of this had sunk in. Shirou, for the longest time, you have wondered who the woman in your dreams is. You have felt a connection to her that you cannot explain.

That woman, is your mother, Shirou." Zangetsu told him bluntly.

The world crashed around Shirou. _'My mother?'_ Shirou had stopped thinking about his past a long time ago. He had discarded it as unimportant after Kiritsugu had adopted him. Now his past was coming back to haunt him.

Rain started to fall. Cold, cold rain. Shirou looked up. He hated the rain.

"Then, the words she was saying.."Shirou recalled.

"She was telling you that she loved you, Shirou." Zangetsu told him softly. "To the best of my knowledge, your father is still alive. You also have two sisters, twins."

Shirou's mind reeled at this new information. "My father..." he muttered.

"I can only assume why he never looked for you. Perhaps they found another body and assumed it was yours. Perhaps when they could not find you, they labeled you for dead. Perhaps bodies were sent home and he never bothered to come her. Perhaps there just weren't any bodies and a funeral took place in your birth town." Zangetsu explained.

"Perhaps when this war is over, Ichigo, you can go and meet your family." Zangetsu suggested.

A few tears fell from Shirou's eyes before they hardened. His mother may be dead but he had other family.

Fuji-nee, Sakura, for some reason Saber also crossed into his mind. And, his father and sisters...

Resolve filled Shirou's being. The rain, just as quickly as it had come, receded, leaving behind a clear blue sky.

"Zangetsu. During this war, I will protect everyone close to me. And after, I will look for my family. I will become strong, strong enough that what happened to my mother never happens again." Shirou swore on his very being.

Zangetsu smiled. "That is good to hear my friend. For now though, you have a war to deal with. Saber has already shown her intention to train you. During the day you will train with her and gain experience. And at night, you will come here to train with me."

Shirou nodded seriously.

"For now though, Shirou, rest. You have had enough revelations tonight. Rest easy, for on the morning, perhaps nothing will be the same, ever again." Zangetsu told him, disappearing.

Shirou took another look around. Then he took another deep breath and closed his eyes.

T.T

That night, Shirou dreamt of a girl raised as a man. He saw her resolve to be a king and lead her people. He watched as she learned the ways of a knight. Of a man she called Merlin. He watched her pull a beautiful golden sword out of a stone, and being proclaimed king.

**The Next Day**

Shirou opened his eyes quickly. He took a look around, seeing his room and sighed.

That dream. That girl. Wasn't she Saber. He tried to remember what she was called. He couldn't remember any voices. Just images. Shaking his head, he stood. He frowned however, when something fell from his body. Looking down, he saw a mask. It looked like a skull, smiling, with three red stripes above the left eye, and one under it.

Wondering where the mask had come from, he put it on his night stand and dismissed it as unimportant.

Quickly working through his morning rituals, he dressed, and went to wake Saber up.

"Saber, it's morning." he called out to her. Receiving no reply, he scowled, opening to door to see no one in there.

Still Scowling, he walked out, wondering where she could have gone to. _'The dojo.'_ he thought. That seemed where a warrior like her would go.

Walking there, he opened the door, and stopped in his tracks as he walked in. Saber was in there, like he had thought, sitting in seiza postion. He was once again struck at just how beautiful the servant he had summoned is.

Sunlight streamed through a window, illuminating her face and blond hair. Her armor was gone, replaced by a blue dress.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when her eyes opened. She looked at him and smiled.

"Ah, Shirou. Good morning." she told him. Responding back, he asked her what she was doing in the dojo.

"Ah, I don't need much sleep as a servant, so I went looking around the house when I woke up and found this dojo. It is very nice, well kept." she responded.

Nodding, Shirou said, "That it is, I use it quite often. Now though, I think we should talk about last night." Donning a serious face Saber nodded. Shirou took a seiza position in front of Saber and started.

"Both of the servants we fought last night survived. They'll be coming back for more. The threat however, is Berserker. Lancer was seriously wounded, so I don't think that he is much of a threat, but Berserker is." Shirou stated.

Saber nodded. "The Einzbern master is most likely staying at a castle inside the forest. It is heavily fortified with bounded fields, so I suggest waiting for them to come to us."

Shirou frowned. "How do you know that?" he questioned.

"I was summoned in the last grail war Shirou, under Emiya Kiritsugu, who worked for the Einzbern." Saber told him.

Shirou froze. "Emiya Kiritsugu, was my father." he stated bluntly.

Saber's eyes widened. "I assumed there was some relation due to the similar last name, but your father..."

"So my father fought in the grail war ten years ago." Shirou scowled, thinking.

"Well." Shirou decided. "There are more important things right now."

"What's our plan of action against the other masters?" Shirou questioned.

"I believe that our best course of action is for them to come to us. During the afternoons or evenings we can patrol around the city and wait for them to challenge us. You said you are not a strong magus correct? Although you do have that sword... Just what are your abilities Shirou?" She asked him.

Shirou sighed. "That's a rather complicated situation. It appears that I'm not actually a magus."

Saber looked at him confused. "But that attack that took three of Berserker's lives, and that sword that comes out of nowhere..."

Shirou gave Saber a condensed version of what Zangetsu told him last night.

"I see." Saber stated, a small but cute frown on her face. "The grail tells heroic spirits about the modern age, so that we are not bewildered and can keep up with the current time. I have never heard of anything like this however."

"Actually now that I think about it, I have never told you my name, Shirou." Saber refocused. "In life I was known by the name, Arturia Pendragon, the King of Knights.

Shirou stared at her blankly for a moment before his eyes widened to dinner plate proportions and he exclaimed, "EEEEHHHHHHHHHH!"

"B-bu-bu-b-but, your a girl!" he yelled out, falling on his backside and backing away. "Wasn't King Arthur supposed to be a guy!? I think I would have remembered if the story said he was a pretty girl!"

Saber turned red at his 'pretty' comment, but responded back. "My father thought I would be born a male, and sent me with a magus named Merlin to raise me as I could not be a successor to the throne as a female. I became a knight and hid my gender so people would think I was a man. After all, a woman could not be the king."

Calming down a little Shirou nodded. "You musn't tell anyone this Shirou. A servant's identity must be hidden so that our enemies can not find our weaknesses."

Shirou responded in the positive, just as he heard a loud growling sound. Startled, he leapt up, looking around to see where it had come from, as Saber turned crimson.

Looking at her, he came to a realization. "That was your stomach Saber?"

Crimson red, Saber nodded. "It appears that I require sustenance Shirou. Hunger is the enemy."

Shirou grinned, and nodded. She needed something to eat? That was right up his alley. "Alright, come on, I'll make breakfast." he stated as he stood up.

"You cook Shirou?" Saber questioned, also standing.

"Yup. I must say though, servants, exhaustion, hunger, we sure do have a lot of enemies don't we." he asked, walking to the door.

"That we do Shirou, that we do." Saber said with a completely serious face as her stomach growled again. Turning red once again, Shirou laughed and hurried up. He had someone to feed.

-Chapter 3 End-

**AN: Well, that's that. This really fought itself tooth and nail actually. I wanted it out sooner, but life's a bitch. A bit shorter than the last chapter, but I will try to get longer chapters out. I want to get one more chapter out before Sep. 4, when school starts. That chapter will also probably have an omake of Shirou's childhood, so look forward to that.**

**PM me or review for questions, concerns, compliments, etc. Progress on the next chapter will be on my profile as it has been. Check out Gazzadcs stories, without that guy, this probably wouldn't be here. I'm looking forward to the next chapter. I think that's it.**

**Ja ne!**


	4. Training Begins

He Who Protects the Living

**AN: I'm sorry this was so late. I ran out of time, and then school started. But it's here now.**

**Well, it looks like you guys are enjoying the story so far. I'm glad. I didn't think this was going to be so popular when I first posted it. Thank you to everyone who has read, who has reviewed, and everything else. You guys actually give me ideas that I use every time that you review. So keep on doing it. (Hint, Hint) :)**

**I have a reference to another VN in this chapter. Find it, you get a cookie! :)**

**I do not believe I have anything I really need to say or make clear this chapter. If you have any questions, PM me, or review. I always respond as fast as I can. Progress on each chapter is on my profile.**

**Heads up, school starts Sep. 4, so I will definitely update only once a week. Sorry, I wish I could update faster than that, but school is important. Chapter progress will be on my profile. I will also put notes on my profile if, for whatever reason, I can't write that week. Updates will most likely be on Sunday's.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own FSN or Bleach in any way, shape, or form. Now I can't get sued. Hooray!**

_Last Time: "You cook Shirou?" Saber questioned, also standing._

"_Yup. I must say though, servants, exhaustion, hunger, we sure do have a lot of enemies don't we." he asked, walking to the door._

"_That we do Shirou, that we do." Saber said with a completely serious face as her stomach growled again. Turning red once again, Shirou laughed and hurried up. He had someone to feed._

Chapter 4: Training Begins

Shirou was making something simple and fast. He had woken up a bit late for breakfast, but not late enough for lunch, so he had decided on a quick breakfast.

Shirou sighed happily as he did all the preparations, cutting what needed to be cut, washing what needed to be washed, stirring, cooking.

Shirou was forced to learn how to cook from an early age. His father Kiritsugu couldn't cook for fear of burning down the house. The same with Taiga. So, he had to learn fast or risk another great Fuyuki fire or starvation.

At first it had been a bit of a disaster, but he had learned surprisingly quickly. He had also quickly come to greatly enjoy his time in the kitchen. There was just nothing so relaxing as taking the time to turn a bunch of unassuming ingredients and spices into something edible and delicious.

It cleared his mind of worries, and he quickly lost himself in it every time he did it.

Within a few minutes, he was done. Taking it out quickly, he set it on the table. Saber shot a curious glance at the food she had never eaten before. With a quick, "Ittadakimasu!" they began eating.

He watched with great enjoyment as Saber took her first bite, and that small smile that she put on when she tasted what he had made.

Shirou greatly enjoyed the reactions people made when they tried his cooking.

Knowing that they liked it, that they were thankful for his efforts and appreciated them made him happy. He loved doing it to make his family happy.

He only wished Fuji-nee appreciated his food enough to do more than scarf it all down.

Shirou was quickly done, but watched Saber eat surprised. She was eating slowly, gracefully, with etiquette. He would have expected that out of a girl like Saber though. The surprising part was that although she ate slowly and gracefully, she just wasn't stopping.

He watched as she slowly devoured her food, vaguely wondering where it was all going. He had not thought that a small and petite girl like Saber would eat so much.

Finally finishing every morsel that Shirou had made, Saber sighed in contentment, muttering a quick, "Thanks for the meal."

"That was a good meal Shirou." Saber admitted, the smile he had seen when she took her first bite still present on her face.

"I'm sorry it was Eastern though, but I wanted to make something quick and I'm more familiar with Eastern." Shirou apologized bowing his head.

"Not at all Shirou." Saber denied. "As long as it's good and filling, there is no reason for me to complain. Your cooking is quite good. Were I still a king, I might have made you into my personal cook."

A small hue of red, almost unnoticeable made its way onto Saber's face as she admitted this. Shirou smiled widely.

"Thanks a lot Saber." he told her. "Ah, I forgot you were a king in life Saber." he said as he began gathering all the dishes.

Saber stood and helped him. "Really? Well, I suppose it isn't a matter that would concern you much."

Shirou looked at her, and suddenly remembered the dream he had had last night.

"Last night I had a dream about that. A girl pulling a sword out of a stone. Those, were your memories?" Shirou asked, unsure.

Saber nodded. "I am not surprised Shirou. That is known as the dream cycle. A master will often dream of his servant's life through his dreams."

"I had thought," Saber continued, "that I would have to hide my name from you when you first summoned me. However, you proved yourself to be strong when you fought Berserker together with me."

Shirou blinked in slight confusion. "Why would you do that?" he asked.

"Knowing a servant's name allows you to know their weaknesses." she replied. "Had you not been strong enough to defend yourself, then I would have preferred you not know so you can't be tortured for the knowledge."

"But, you're supposed to have no weaknesses as far as I can remember." Shirou stated, still slightly confused. "I thought you had that sheath, Avalon, that made it so you can't get hurt."

A look passed Saber's face that he could not identify. "Avalon was stolen from me before my death. I have it no longer, and so I can be hurt."

Shirou could tell it was probably a sore subject to her. "I see. So like how I figured out that Berserker would have twelve lives because of the twelve labors."

Saber, happy that they had left the subject, nodded. "Yes. I'm glad you figured it out so quickly, we now know how many lives Berserker has left."

"And thanks to our battle with him, we know that he gains an immunity to whatever kills him." Shirou finished.

"Yes. Berserker will be tough to beat with that immunity, but you and I together should be able to take him because of his mindlessness. Ilyasviel revealed that you took three lives, so it is possible that my own Noble Phantasm will take more than that." proposed Saber.

"Noble Phantasm? What exactly is that?" asked Shirou. "Is it some power you have?"

"A Noble Phantasm is a crystallized mystery. The symbol of a hero. They can be a weapon, a concept, an ability, etc. They are unique to the Heroic Spirit who uses them, and can only be used by them. One example would be my sword, Excalibur. They are a trump card, used to kill the enemy in one shot. This is because they can reveal the identity of the one who uses it." Saber explained.

"I see. And what does Excalibur do exactly?" asked Shirou.

"It does almost exactly what your Zangetsu does actually." Saber admitted. "My own attack is at least twice as strong as yours, but it is almost exactly the same. Your own zanpakutou is extremely similar to a Noble Phantasm."

"Maybe the similar powers is why you were summoned as my servant?" Shirou proposed.

"It is certainly possible." Saber agreed. "There was no catalyst used to summon me, so the similar powers and personalities made the grail choose me as your partner."

"Okay. I think I understand that now." said Shirou, a contemplative look on his face. "What are we going to do about the other servants and masters?"

"You do not have any skills to try and track them down as you are not a magi. So the best thing to do is probably to patrol the city and look. Perhaps servants will come to challenge us." Saber said, thinking.

"That sounds good." Shirou agreed. "It also allows us to react faster if any civilians are getting hurt."

"That's right, you are fighting this war to protect all those you can correct?" asked Saber.

"Well, yeah. But you're helping me every step of the way right? Together we'll defeat every master and servant. Then at the end, I will get the grail for you." Shirou told her seriously.

Saber could feel her face reddening. _'Why is my face red?'_

Just then the phone started ringing. Shirou, oblivious to Saber's red face, went and answered it. Saber quickly calmed down. _'Why, did I react so strongly?'_ she wondered.

Saber wondered at Shirou also. Although he was strong, she wondered whether he could survive the war if he had no resolve to win. To win for her? For another person? Saber did not believe that this was enough resolve to get the grail.

Shirou returned, scowling. "Fuji-nee wants me to bring her lunch. I'm going to make her a quick bento."

"Shirou." she called out to him. "Be careful on the path you have chosen. You are strong, especially so for a human, but you may end up regretting it.'

Her words resounding in his ears, his eyebrows bunched together, but he nodded.

Saber nodded, watching him go back to the kitchen. In a few minutes, Shirou had leftovers from the day before ready, the omelet ready, and he called out to Saber. "I'm going to go get this to Fuji-nee, I'll be back in a little bit."

"I will come with you Shirou." Saber stated, standing up.

"Normally I wouldn't mind Saber." Shirou started. "But look at what your wearing. I don't have any clothes you can wear, and that stands out too much."

Saber looked at her clothes and frowned. _'This is a problem I did not foresee.'_ In the last war, Kiritsugu had provided her with a suit to wear.

Her master wasn't expecting her however, so it was expected he probably would not have any clothing for her.

"I'll get you some clothes too while I'm out. I'll be back as soon as I can." Shirou stated, beginning to put his shoes on.

"Ah. I'm sorry I have to ask something this personal, but what are your sizes?" Shirou asked, looking away with a blush and a scowl.

Saber blinked. "I am your sword Shirou. It is only right that you know the important things about your weapons." She then told him her sizes.

Shirou sighed. He just couldn't seem to get her to lighten up on her not being a weapon.

"Do not hesitate to call me if you are in trouble Shirou." said Saber frowning. Shirou could fend off a servant for at least the minute needed to use a command seal.

-I am the bone of my sword-

Shirou made his way quickly. Although Saber trusted him to be gone alone for a short time, she would not be happy if he took more time than necessary.

Arriving at the gates, he paused as he smelled something strange. Sniffing the air discretely, he frowned. _'What, is this smell?'_ he thought.

It was strange. Deciding it was probably nothing, he made his way inside. Going his way to the archery club, he saw Mitsuzuri Ayako, the captain of the archery club.

"Emiya!" she called out to me. "You brought Taiga's meal?"

"Yeah." Shirou sad, scowling.

"Good. She was starting to get a little edgy." Ayako sighed in relief.

"Figures. That Taiga is like a real tiger when it comes to food." Shirou said, scowling. (Taiga means tiger).

"I see your still scowling Shirou. Don't you know that your face will get stuck like that?" Ayako said with a teasing smile.

Shirou grunted and moved on. He didn't have time to hear that more than once a day.

Fuji-nee would probably get mad if Shirou didn't see her. He would suffer for it later. But he could probably go as soon as he gave her her lunch.

Going inside the range, he was assaulted by a cacophony of voices complaining to Taiga. _'Huh. This place's the same as always.'_

_'Ah. There's Sakura.'_ Shirou thought.

"Excellent timing. Oi, Sakura!" he called out. He could see surprise running through her face.

"Senpai!" she called out in surprise, heading over to him.

"Why are you here today senpai?" Sakura asked, smiling. "C-could it, be, um..."

Not noticing her last sentence stumbling, Shirou told her, "I brought lunch for you and Fuji-nee. She's starting to give out absurd orders because she's hungry right."

Sakura looked disappointed for a moment, but quickly brightened up. "Will you stay here all today senpai?" she asked him.

"Sorry. I would like to, but I have a guest over. One of my fathers friends, came to do something for a little while, didn't know he was dead. By the way, you should come to dinner tonight, I'm cooking." Shirou told her.

Sakura once again looked disappointed, but once again brightened up when Shirou invited her to dinner.. "Ah, okay senpai. I'll come tonight. I'll call Fujimura-sensei over."

Sakura scurried off to get Fuji-nee.

-Steel is my body-

In the break room, Fuji-nee sighed as she finished her lunch. The tiger had been sated apparently.

"Thanks for the meal Shirou!" she told Shirou happily.

"I'm glad you liked it, Fuji-nee." Shirou said with a scowl.

"Mou, Shirou, you're scowling again!" Fuji-nee said, hands aiming out to pinch my cheeks.

Shirou dodged with skill that said years of experience. "Well what can you expect when you call me out to bring you lunch when I'm entertaining a guest?"

Fuji-nee blinked. "Oh yeah, Sakura said something like that. A friend of your dad's right?"

"Yeah. Pops was always going off to other countries. Didn't know he was dead, so I'm letting 'em stay." Shirou stated.

"Yeah. Sure sound like you Shirou." Fuji-nee said with a smile. "So, I guess your not staying?"

"No. I promised I would be right back." Shirou said.

"Alrighty then. See ya at dinner Shirou!" Fuji-nee stated, going out the room. Shirou also stood.

Saying a quick good bye to Sakura, who was also going back out, he headed out.

Making his way out, Ayako called him. "Oi, Emiya." Turning, he took a look at her.

"Mitsuzuri. What's up?" he asked, still scowling.

"Oh nothing much. Just came to see if you would stay and shoot." she said, smiling.

"I would like to, but I have a guest waiting for me back at home." Shirou said.

"Ah. Well, I also wanted to tell you you need to lighten up. That's why Sakura's a little upset too, you never laugh, never have any fun. All you do is scowl all the time." she said, smile disappearing.

"Hmm. I must be bad if even my classmates are telling me to lighten up." Shirou stated, scowl lightening up a bit.

"Hey, where's Shinji? I wanted to talk to him." asked Shirou, a dark look coming over his face.

"We don't know. We haven't seen him for a while." stated Ayako with a shrug.

"I see. If you see him, tell him I'm coming for him. And that him running will just make it more fun for me." said Shirou, his tone somewhat dark.

Ayako laughed, nodding, smile appearing back on her face. "Take care then, Emiya." She left back to the range.

_'Hmm. Is that why Sakura seemed upset before?'_ he wondered, thinking back to her shoulders slumping in a bit of disappointment. He took a look at the archery range.

He hadn't shot in a long time. Everyone said he was really good, though Shirou himself didn't think much of his skill. He had only ever missed one time.

When Ayako had come to see what his reaction was, she had been surprised to see him acting normally, stating that he had imagined missing.

_'Perhaps.'_ Shirou thought. _'I could use this skill somehow. I mainly use my swo-zanpakutou to fight, but maybe I can use a bow and arrow for long range.'_

He quickly dismissed the idea however, remembering how Archer's arrows had not left a mark on Berserker's skin. It would probably be for the best if he sticked to close range.

-And fire is my stomach-

Leaving the range, Shirou quickly left to go buy clothes for Saber. There was a market just by his house where he could buy her some clothing.

Shirou looked around one of the stores, wondering what he could get her. He remembered her dress and figured that she might like one like it. Just modern. Looking around, he grinned as he saw something he thought she might like.

Quickly grabbing it, he paid for it and went back home. It was time for him and Saber to train.

-I have created-

Arriving home quickly, Shirou called out, "I'm back!"

He took his shoes off, going to the dojo. He wasn't gone long, Saber was probably waiting there for him to start training.

Opening the door to the dojo, he was treated to the same sight he had seen that morning. Saber sitting on seiza, sunlight hitting her.

She opened her eyes when he came in. "Welcome back Shirou." She seemed to relax a bit when she saw him.

_'Probably because she was worried I would be attacked.'_ he thought. "I got you some clothes Saber. You can put those on later, I would rather we train with your armor on."

Saber nodded. "You are strong enough that the clothes would most likely tear in our fight."

Shirou put the clothes he had bought for her down near the door. "Let me change into something a bit more suitable for training. I'll be right back."

Disappearing out back to the house, he was back in just a few minutes wearing a gi. Saber stood when she saw him.

"So what is it that we will be doing, Saber?" Shirou asked, summoning Zangetsu in a flurry of black particles.

Donning her armor and sword, Saber spoke up. "You fought well against Berserker Shirou. However, you would have died had I not been there. You tired quickly, your body has limits that we servants don't."

Shirou scowled. It was true. Although he had fought his hardest against Berserker, he would have died eventually. He had only one attack that could really hurt Berserker, and he had already used it. Now it would be ineffective because of Berserker's immunity to attacks that had killed it.

"Due to this," Saber continued, "You will need to build up stamina and experience. I will come at you as if to kill you, and you will learn and get stronger that way. Perhaps you will find a different spell that you can use besides your Getsuga Tensho."

Shirou furrowed his eyebrows. "I see. Alright then, let's start." He took up a stance with his giant cleaver facing forward. He began to reinforce his body.

Saber readied herself as well. _'That invisible sword is going to be some trouble.'_ Shirou thought.

As if by some unseen signal, they launched at each other, delivering a flurry of strikes.

Shirou grunted as he blocked a horizontal slash. _'She's so fast. Every blow makes my arms shake.'_ he thought, having trouble with her multitude of attacks.

With a yell, Shirou tried for an overhead strike, but Saber blocked it without any sign of strain.

Gritting his teeth, Shirou tried to go on the offensive, slashing at Saber so many times they seemed to blur together. Up. Horizontally. Upwards slash. Diagonal. The sound of steel on steel filled the room as Shirou and Saber fought.

"This is not enough Shirou." Saber berated him, effortlessly blocking every attack. "Where is the strength you used to fight Berserker? Is this all your resolve?"

Saber went on the offensive in an instant, pressure coming off her body. Shirou desperately tried to block, but was soon receiving slash marks all over his body.

_'How am I supposed to block when I can't see what I'm blocking!?'_ Shirou thought incredulously as he quickly brought his sword up, but was pushed back.

_'What's different from last night? Why can't I fight like that now?'_ Shirou tried to think back to the night before. _'What am I doing wrong!'_

Suddenly, Shirou remembered. The feeling of power welling up inside of him, and exploding around him. This memory cost him however, when he was knocked out by the side of Saber's sword.

**A few minuted later**

Shirou groaned as he fought back a small headache. He opened his eyes. Light streamed by his vision. He saw Saber looking over him.

"Are you alright master?" she asked him, reverting back to calling him master. "I did not expect you to become distracted. Master, is everything okay?"

"Y-yeah." Shirou muttered as he sat up. "And hey, didn't I tell you to call me Shirou?" he suddenly said with a scowl.

Saber relaxed, but then quickly frowned. "Shirou. Why did you not fight me as you fought Berserker last night? Is it because of my gender once again?"

Shirou sighed, looking down. "I don't know why. Yesterday, I felt this well of power just explode out of my, reinforcing my body, making me stronger and faster."

Saber looked at him, a small look of thought on her face. "I see. Shirou, yesterday power flooded out of your body in much the way my prana burst does to me. Do you remember saying our similar abilities may have brought us together? Perhaps I was meant to do more than just fight with you."

Shirou looked at Saber, a little confused. "I will teach you to use prana burst." Saber announced.

Shirou looked at her, somewhat befuddled. "Wha-"

"Do you not see Shirou?" Saber asked him. "Fate has clearly seen fit to put us together so that I can train you. Your purpose goes beyond this grail war. You have power, so much more than any normal human should have any right to.

Shirou, you will be a hero someday."

Shirou gaped at her. _'Me a hero? One of these monsters like Berserker and Lancer?'_

Shirou got over it quickly however and grinned. _'Trained by a heroic spirit. Even Saber says that I will be strong someday. Tou-san, our dream, to be a hero of justice. With Saber's help, I will achieve it!'_

Shirou stood up suddenly. "Let's do it Saber! I will become a hero of justice!" He pumped his fist.

Were Saber less of a lady, she might have sweatdropped. She simply stood, telling Shirou, "Then we will start now. The basics of prana burst are..."

-Over a thousand blades-

A few hours later, Shirou stood in front of Saber, gasping for breath. Saber had been ruthless in her training of him.

"We should stop for the day now Shirou. You have started to grasp the basics, and you must rest. Exhaustion is the enemy." Saber stated, making her sword and armor disappear.

Shirou nodded, allowing Zangetsu to disappear as well. He collapsed on the floor.

"You did well today Shirou." Saber told him, a small smile on her face.

"Thank you, Saber. Actually, now that your training me, should I call you Saber-sensei?" he asked, a questioning look on his face.

Saber blinked. She had never had someone call her that before. "That is unnecessary Shirou. We are partners after all."

Shirou nodded. He looked over the bruises and cuts littering his body. He blinked however, when he saw nothing. "Wha-" he began to say.

Saber looked over him in confusion, only to blink as she realized what he was looking at. "I did not know you knew healing mysteries."

Shirou looked at his body in wonder. "I don't." he answered honestly.

Saber frowned. "Perhaps it is a power of your zanpakutou." As expected, she remembered the name of his type of sword after only hearing it once.

"Maybe. Zangetsu-ossan never said anything about healing, but yeah, it's probably him." Shirou agreed.

Shirou stood up, cracking his back. "Whew. I'm going to go start on dinner. Here let me get you your clothes."

Shirou went and got her clothes where he had left them. "I tried to find something you would like."

Saber accepted the bag from him, thanking him.

"You should get dressed, Fuji-nee and Sakura are coming over for dinner tonight." Shirou stated, beginning to walk out the door.

Saber called out to him. "Is that wise Shirou?"

Shirou looked back over his shoulder.

"Is it not best that we not let your family stay away for the time being so that they are safe?" Saber asked him.

"Don't worry about it. If they find out, they're both strong people. They can deal with it. And if not, I will protect them at the cost my own life." Shirou stated this with absolute certainty. With such certainty as if not even God would dare to try and prove him wrong.

It was this certainty that caused Saber's face to flush red. "Very well, master. If that is your wish."

"Jeez, again with the master." Shirou scowled and complained on his way out.

Alone in the dojo, Saber began to change, thinking, _'Shirou indeed has much steel in him. What an interesting...partner, I have ended up with.'_

-Unknown to death-

Shirou sighed as his hands began to cook dinner. He was totally relaxed at that moment. Nothing could disturb him.

In some time, he had a big dinner ready. _'Both Fuji-nee and Saber eat a lot. Though, Saber at least has manners.'_

Stretching, he decided he would take a quick shower before heading down and waiting for Fuji-nee and Sakura.

Going upstairs, he grabbed his clothes and toiletries, then headed to the bathroom.

He opened the door to the bathroom, and was treated to a sight he would remember for the rest of his life.

Saber looked at Shirou with a bit of surprise, but not much else. "Ah, Shirou." she greeted him completely normally.

"Were you going to use the shower before serving dinner?" she asked him, oblivious to his crimson red face. "I am using it at the moment, but I'm almost done. Could you wait a few minutes?"

Shirou tried to stammer out a response as more and more blood flooded to his face. Many thoughts ran through his mind as he looked at Saber's slightly muscular body. More blood flooded to his head as he looked at her uncovered breasts.

Finally, it was too much for him, and he blasted off backwards with a stream of red erupting from his nose. He fainted on the floor with a goofy smile on his face, listening to someone call out his name.

**A few minutes later**

Shirou awoke with his head on something soft. He groaned, burrowing his head deeper into it, but shot up when he heard a soft moan. Turning, blood flooded to his face as he looked at the beautiful, but very naked body of Saber.

Remembering something soft when he woke up, he looked at her legs and wondered, _'That's what I woke up in? And then that moan was because...'_

Looking at Saber's blushing face, he covered his eyes with his hand. Most people would have seen this as a good thing to do in this situation. It's effect was ruined however, because he had one eye clearly uncovered to peek at her.

"S-s-s-sab-ber!" he vaguely shouted out. He vowed his head and got on his knees, screaming out, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Saber looked at Shirou apologizing with a slight blush on her face. She remembered Shirou burrowing his head close to her private spot, and her moan.

"I-it's alright Shirou." Saber looked away, also stuttering. "I-i was worried when you fainted. I'm just sorry you had to look at my unattractive body."

Normally Shirou would have told her to put clothes on and run away. Embarrassed and not thinking straight as he was however, he said something without thinking. "Are you kidding! You're the most pretty girl I've ever seen!"

Saber blushed harder than she thought she had in her entire life. No one had ever complimented her like that before.

Shirou quickly told her to put some clothes on, and ran away, not noticing what he had said.

When he was gone, Saber looked down at her hands. _'Pretty? Me?'_

-Nor known to life-

A few minutes later, Shirou was sitting down in his room, trying hard to forget what he had just seen, but finding it extremely difficult.

_'That was the first time I ever saw a naked girl.'_ he thought a little numbly.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door. Telling her to come in, Saber walked in the door. Shirou stopped thinking when he saw the dress she was wearing. It was a blue summer dress, and it looked quite good on her. (Like a dress Rukia would wear. I think she had, a yellow version of this. Just turn blue.)

She blushed when she saw him staring at her, looking away somewhat shyly. Shirou snapped out of it and told her, "You look good in that dress, Saber."

Saber looked at him, but didn't acknowledge his compliment with anything more than a small hue of red on her cheeks. "You can use the bath now Shirou. I'm done with it."

Thanking her, Saber left for the dining room, and he quickly went and took a bath. Shirou came out of the bath refreshed. _'Ah, nothing like a nice bath to make you forget your worries.'_

He went down and quickly started grabbing plates in the kitchen. _'Fuji-nee and Sakura should be here any second.'_ he thought. His thoughts were proven right when, not a second later, he heard footsteps.

Taking the food out, he began to set it on the table, looking at Saber to see her reaction to the meal. She was looking at the meal curiously, most likely because she had never had anything like this. She was from medieval Britain after all.

"SHIROU! I'M HUNGRY!" screamed out a tiger, running into the room and grabbing a bowl of rice. The tiger happily chowed down on his food, oblivious to the world. Behind her, Sakura suddenly froze as she took a look at Saber.

"S-shirou, this is, your guest?" she asked him timidly. In front of her, Fuji-nee suddenly remembered they had a guest, and looked to give him a greeting, when that greeting died in her throat as she saw that him was a her.

Fuji-nee was frozen for a second, before she suddenly exploded. "SHIROU! INDECENT, HOW DARE YOU HAVE A GIRL IN THE HOUSE!"

Shirou looked at Fuji-nee with a scowl. "I told you I had a guest didn't I? I said they came to see pops and didn't know he was dead!" he argued back.

"You didn't say that the guest was a girl! I refuse to accept this!" Fuji-nee roared out.

They were both interrupted by a voice telling Fuji-nee, "Kiritsugu entrusted me to protect Shirou."

They looked over to Saber who was looking at Fuji-nee. "I will protect Shirou for the entire time I will be here."

Sakura then spoke up. "So, Emiya-kun, this is the kind of girl you like?"

Shirou looked at Sakura surprised, then blushing as he remembered what had transpired a few minutes ago.

Sakura took this blush as a yes, and looked down with a look of disappointment.

Shirou tried to defend himself. "Look, she won't be here long, and it's not like we're sleeping in the same room! I have plenty of room here!"

Fuji-nee, looked at his face intensely. She seemed to see something there, because she suddenly said, "Shirou, do you like this girl?"

Shirou and Saber both froze. Fuji-nee suddenly got a smirk like the cat that got the canary. "AHA!" she screamed out, pointing a finger at the two of them.

"I understand what's going on now! Shirou accepted this girl being his usual self, and now Shirou doesn't want her to go away because he fell in love with her! And she has as well!" Fuji-nee nodded with a proud look on her face.

Shirou and Saber both tried to sputter out denials, but not doing a good job of it.

Sakura suddenly donned a look of sadness at these words. "A-h, senpai, I just remembered, I need to go home, my grandfather's expecting me." She turned and half ran out the room.

Shirou frowned, looking at Taiga. "Can you go with her please? It's pretty late. I don't want her getting hurt."

Still grinning, Fuji-nee nodded. "Sure Shirou, I'll miss your cooking just this once, so you can get to know your lady friend. Just don't make me an aunt okay!"

She was out the room before Shirou could sputter out anymore denials.

Saber and Shirou looked at each other with matching blushes on their faces.

"W-well, looks like it's just us tonight after all." he said, sitting down.

Saber nodded. "Perhaps it is for the best. Now maybe they will get a little less involved."

They ate the rest of their dinner in silence. Neither was really a talkative person. When dinner was finished, Saber told him the tempura he made was good. At this, Shirou smiled. He had made his tempura special that day.

They washed the dishes together, then went upstairs. They stood in front of the doors to their rooms, looking at each other.

Shirou spoke. "I have school tomorrow Saber. War or no war, it's important to get myself an education."

Saber looked upset, but nodded. "Very well Shirou. Remember to call out to me if you are in trouble. Use a command seal if necessary, you still cannot fight the stronger servants like Berserker on your own."

Shirou looked at her. "I trust you my back then."

Saber looked back. "And you mine."

-Have withstood pain to create many weapons-

It wasn't a surprise to Shirou when he awoke in a desert, swords stabbed into the ground everywhere like a graveyard for them. Zangetsu had told him they would be training together. He looked up and saw the skyscrapers jutting out sideways across the sky.

Looking down, he saw a figure dressed in black approach him.

"Zangetsu-ossan." he greeted. The figure did not reply.

"I let you borrow my power against Berserker Ichigo. Now Saber has started to teach you to fight." Zangtsu got straight to the point.

"The only thing you still need training in, is me. The Getsuga Tensho is only the beginning of our power. Why do you think all these swords are still here?" asked Zangetsu, arm stretched to show him the expanse of blades around him.

Shirou furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought that the swords were here because my mind sees myself as a sword. A hero of justice."

"That is not entirely incorrect Ichigo." Zangetsu stated. "There is much more to it than that however. But to teach you, I need to know how strong you are."

Shirou grinned a cocky grin. "Alright. Bring it on, Zangetsu-ossan!" he called out, readying himself.

Zangetsu did nothing however. "I will not be your opponent Ichigo." A part of his coat then started to stretch, making a human figure.

"Who you will fight, is yourself." Zangetsu stated, as his coat took the form of Shirou, but not.

Shirou stared in surprise at, well, himself. It would be like looking in a mirror, except this person was completely white. He took in the yellow eyes, the inverted colors of Zangetsu.

"_**Hello king. I will be killing you today!"**_ the figure spoke in an odd double tone voice.

-Yet those hands will never hold anything-

-Chapter 4 End-

**AN: Yeah, that's it. I wanted to do a little more, but I kept you waiting long enough. If the quality was bad, tell me. I may rewrite this chapter, as I wasn't completely satisfied with it.**

**For those of you who do not go on my profile, I have been accepted onto one of the teams for the FIRST Robotics FTC tournament. It's rigorous, so I may have to update once every two weeks from now on. We'll see how it goes.**

**Please review and tell me your thoughts. Sorry it was a bit slow, but my next chapter should be up pretty soon. Sooner than a week soon, but we'll see how that goes too.**

**Ja ne!**


	5. The New Threat

He Who Protects the Living

**AN: Well well! I've broken 100 reviews. Congrats to Grinja for being my one hundredth reviewer.**

**I was a little disappointed that no one caught the reference to Majikoi in the last chapter. The reference was - "And fire is my stomach." - said by the character Wanko as a reference to FSN. Arai kaji was the first to find this, though he didn't get the reference.**

**I made a mistake last chapter, putting in Saber telling Ichirou(What you guys are calling my Shirou) her identity. I already did that in chapter 3. I went back and fixed that error, I am deeply sorry I made it in the first place.**

***IMPORTANT* - Many people wondered why Hollow Ichirou exists. Here it is: When Masaki died in chapter 1, Ichirou felt all the emotions a plus feels when they turn into a hollow. This combined with his reiatsu, damaged his soul. Cracked it. Thus his hollow was born. It just needs a push to completely seperate them.**

**Chapter progress is as always on my profile. PM me or review with any questions.**

_Last Time: "Who you will fight, is yourself." Zangetsu stated, as his coat took the form of Shirou, but not._

_Shirou stared in surprise at, well, himself. It would be like looking in a mirror, except this person was completely white. He took in the yellow eyes, the inverted colors of Zangetsu._

"**_Hello king. I will be killing you today!"_**_ the figure spoke in an odd double tone voice._

Chapter 5: The New Threat

"What is this Zangetsu?" Shirou scowled at Zangetsu. "Why is there another me?"

Zangetsu did not answer.

"_**So sorry king! But you have more pressing matters to attend to!"**_ cackled Shirou's disturbing other self as he launched himself towards Shirou.

Shirou immediately got himself on guard, blocking a slash that would have taken his head off. Shirou took a look at his other self's insane yellow eyes, his grin almost splitting his face.

Shirou knew one thing from looking at this specter. _'If I don't fight, this, thing, will kill me.'_

Shirou immediately threw the specter off of him, scowling as he heard the gleeful cackling.

Shirou himself took off as the white version of him had done moments ago, for once driving an enemy onto the defensive.

He slashed at the white him's head, who blocked, a clang sound filling the air, only to receive a slash to his back as Shirou used burst to flash there.

The specter only laughed harder, turning in an instant and kicking at Shirou's legs. Shirou jumped up, and slashed downwards as the specter blocked then sent Shirou flying through several swords as he tumbled through the ground.

The specter used burst himself to be on Shirou in an instant, who on the ground could only try to block. Shirou manipulated the cloth on his sword to wrap around the specters legs, tying them, then pulled and sent the specter to the ground himself.

Shirou stood and kicked the specter with a loud yell, so much reiatsu pumped into it, it visibly burst from the point of impact. The specter was sent tumbling backwards, unable to gain balance after having his legs tied.

Shirou immediately followed through. Swinging Zangetsu, Shirou called out, "Getsuga Tensho!"

A large blue crescent slash came out, carving into the ground and scattering swords as it hit a no longer smiling specter. A large cloud of dust sprung up as Shirou remembered where he had learned that particular move.

_Flashback_

"_To effectively use my prana burst," Saber began, "You must pump so much prana, reiatsu in your case, into your body that it strengthens it by many times. In reality, my body is very frail, but my huge amount of prana makes me able to to use this effectively."_

_Shirou frowned. "In that case, will I be able to learn this?"_

_Saber nodded. "Perhaps you do not feel it Shirou, but much power runs through you. At the peak of your power during the fight with Berserker, you almost had a fifth of my supply of prana. For a human, this is an incredible amount of power. I believe this is due to the nature of your powers. Reiatsu, not prana."_

_Saber continued. "A fifth is still not enough to use this for long periods of time, and your human body breaks down as you use it for too long as well. Due to this, it is best you focus your bursts to move quickly, and into single parts of your body, such as your leg to kick or your arms to slash."_

_End Flashback_

Shirou watched as the cloud of dust cleared, revealing the white specter was now bleeding, his shirt torn up revealing a large slash on his chest.

The figure gasped out, _**"You are strong. But you do still do not grasp the true power that lies within Zangetsu."**_

Shirou scowled. "What the hell do you mean!" he demanded.

"I know Zangetsu's power! The ability to magnify my slash many times. This is known as the Getsuga Tensho." Shirou argued.

The figure cackled more as he stood, the bleeding slowing down. Shirou scowled harder as he saw this. _'This bugger heals when you injure him. Healing looks like something conscious though. I have to beat him before he has the chance to heal.'_

"_**Zangetsu is a zanpakutou of enormous power. You have barely reached the tip of the iceberg of his power! Learn how weak you truly are king!"**_ the specter laughed harder as he took a hold of the cloth on Zangetsu and started spinning it.

"What in the worl-" Shirou was interrupted as the specter launched Zangetsu towards him, holding it by the cloth.

Shirou stabbed Zangetsu onto the ground, and readied reiatsu in his leg to quick the sword upward. _**"Getsuga Tensho!"**_ the specter gleefully announced.

Shirou only had time for his eyes to widen in horror as his kick connected, and a huge dome of blue power enveloped him. Shirou's scream resounded as he was burned by the power.

Dust covered the ground, swords flying as the dome burned out. The white specter recalled his sword, laughing like a maniac.

"B-bas-tard." Shirou tried to get out as the dust cleared, "Ho-ow do yo-u know, t-the Getsuga Tensho!"

"_**Hehehehe, hahahahhha, ahahaahahahaha!"**_ The specter just kept on laughing. **_"Do you see your weakness now king! How do you expect to win if you can't even figure out the extent of the one power Zangetsu has given you!"_**

Shirou gritted his teeth, using Zangetsu as a crutch. "I-I may not know the Getsuga Tensho that well."

Shirou stood, hair covering his eyes. "But I am going to be a hero of justice. I can't die here because of something so silly as you're stronger than me. If I can't win, then I just have to try harder. If I can't hit hard enough, I just have to hit harder. And if I can't figure out the extent of my powers."

Here Shirou raised Zangetsu to point at the specter. "Then thanks for showing me one of them!" Shirou roared out, his reiatsu forming around him, a black skull behind him.

Shirou spun Zangetsu on his cloth, running at the specter who gleefully ran towards him as well. He roared once more, forcing power through his entire body as he threw Zangetsu. "Getsuga Tensho!"

The specter laughed hard, mirroring Shirou. _**"Getsuga Tensho!"**_

The swords collided in midair, an explosion beginning as the twin Getsuga's fought against each other. The specter's Getsuga slowly began to overcome Shirou's.

The specter laughed more, _**"You should just give up and be my horse king!"**_

As the power of the white spector began to overcome Shirou, Shirou desperately tried to find a way to win. The specter's Getsuga overcame Shirou's.

"_**Hahahahahaha! I'm king now! Me!"**_ the white specter laughed as he reveled in his victory. So sure was he that he had won, he never noticed Shirou until it was too late.

The sound of metal tearing through skin, and the white specter's gasp filled the soundless contours of Shirou's soul. Blood poured down the specter's mouth as he weakly looked down to find a pair of twin curved swords in his stomach and back. One had a black edge and silver body, one had a silver edge and black body. They each had a yin yang symbol on their guard.

The white specter weakly looked up at a very much alive Shirou, though looking a bit worse for wear. He had burn marks on his face, his torso was bleeding from the Getsuga the specter had thrown at him.

Blood also came down the side of his face, his face set in a fierce scowl. The specter weakly, even as his body began to fade away in black particles, managed to get out, _**"H-how..."**_

Shirou recounted his tale.

_Flashback_

_Shirou desperately tried to find a way to win. He looked around and his eyes widened as he saw a twin pair of curved swords. His mind flashed to an image of a figure in red, wielding twin swords, one black, one white._

_These swords were different however. Whereas Archer's swords had been white and black, these were the same color as all the swords in the field, those of Zangetsu. One had a black body and a silver edge, one had a silver body and a black edge._

_The Getsuga of the specter overcame Shirou's. Shirou let go of Zangetsu, pumping as much reiatsu through his body as possible for defense. He burst towards the swords, and grabbed them even as he was hit by the Getsuga._

_Dust clouded the air, and Shirou struggled not to pant or make a noise as he heard the specter laughing madly once more, and burst towards him with what little reiatsu he had left._

_Shirou got in front of the specter, who's eyes widened as he put one sword in his stomach, then twirled and impaled him in the back with the other. Blood that was not his splattered Shirou._

_End Flashback_

"_**Hehehe."**_ even dying the specter laughed. **_"Maybe you are worthy of being king."_**

Shirou sighed in relief as the figure completely disappeared in black particles. Looking at them he blinked as he saw Zangetsu absorb them into his coat as he had released them and given form to that monster.

"You did well Ichigo." Zangetsu acknowledged, bowing his head.

"Cut the crap Zangetsu." Shirou said, scowling as his body sagged. "That, that thing almost killed me. What the hell was that thing?"

"He was you. A part of you, containing all of your worst emotions, your anger, fear, despair." Zangetsu stated. "You did well in overcoming him. And in the process, you discovered the next of my powers."

"Your avoiding the question! That thing could have killed me!" Shirou argued, trying to walk towards him.

"But you didn't die. I had faith that you would overcome this trial. Had you not, then you would not be worthy to wield my considerable power." Zangetsu looked at Shirou coldly.

A shiver ran down Shirou's spine. This may be a part of Shirou's soul, but he would not tolerate his weakness.

"You have discovered my next power Shirou. I asked you before this battle, why these swords were here. You used a pair today, against your other self." Shirou looked down to where the imitations of Archer's swords were lying on the ground.

"Aren't these Archer's swords?" Shirou asked, picking one up.

"That sword you hold in your hand, these swords that you see all around me, they are all me." Zangetsu stated. Shirou looked at him stunned.

"Then-" Shirou began.

"That's right." Zangetsu nodded. "My true ability, is to turn into any weapon you desire, then enhance it. Some have unique power's, which can be imitated but never copied with reiatsu. They are all capable of the Getsuga Tensho."

Shirou looked around. "Your true power is adaptation. The ability to adapt to any situation."

Zangetsu looked happy. Or at least, Shirou assumed so from the way his lips seemed to twitch ever so slightly upwards.

"Of course this ability comes with a cost." Zangetsu stated. "You can change me into any weapon, even more than one. Multiplying me however, makes my strength divide. It also takes a considerable amount of reiatsu to change my form. You have to actively support my form when it is not in it's base state."

Shirou sighed. He could just never catch a break. "Alright. Thanks then, Zangetsu."

Zangetsu looked up as a voice started to sound from the sky. "It seems your woman is worried for you. Injuries you receive in here appear on your body."

Shirou blushed cherry red. "Wh-what are you saying Zangetsu-ossan!? Saber is not my woman!" he finished yelling.

Zangetsu chuckled as Shirou disappeared from his soul. Zangetsu finished chuckling, and looked to the sky. "Make it so that it doesn't rain in here anymore Ichigo. I hate the rain."

-This is a page break. Deal with it.-

Saber was sleeping peacefully. Servants didn't dream. Or at least they weren't supposed to. That night however, Saber was treated to many sights. She saw a fire. A woman, crushed by burning rubble. Pain, pain in her heart.

Saber suddenly gasped awake. She looked around, green grass, blue sky, a forest. _'Where am I?'_ She suddenly saw a woman. Saber began to call out to inquire where she was, but stopped short as he took in the woman's appearance.

A woman, with blond hair and yellow eyes. _'Wait!'_ Saber thought in alarm. _'Is that...Me?'_

Indeed the woman looked remarkably like Saber. Almost like, her mirror. Wearing black armor with red looking veins. The woman looked at Saber, and Saber felt a shiver go down her spine.

Saber opened her mouth to speak, but the world grew dark and Saber knew no more.

-This is a page break. Deal with it.-

That night Shirou dreamt of his father's last day on Earth. Kiritsugu didn't do much in his last few months, and Shirou regretted not seeing the actions of an animal that knew when he would die.

That night was the night that Shirou promised to his father that he would be a superhero. Shirou now realized that you could not save everyone. He could do nothing for the few spirits that hanged around for so little time.

That woman, his mother. He could not save her either. He could not save Kiritsugu in his last moments. Saving everyone was foolish. But he was growing stronger. He would become strong enough to save all his precious people.

He would save everyone he could if he could not save them all. He would be a hero. Someday.

Shirou woke as the sun's rays shined on his face. Taking a look at his body, he grimaced as he saw the wounds. The slash marks that the white him had left on him were crusted over with dried blood.

Shirou went to the bathroom and washed the blood off. Remarkably, as soon as he washed it off, Shirou noticed that there were no wounds on his body. He could have sworn he had felt pain when he woke up, so where were...

Shirou dismissed it as unimportant and finished his morning rituals. As he was walking down, he heard a someone come in. _'Oh. Maybe Sakura finally acknowledged that she can come in whenever she wants.'_

Sakura always insisted on knocking and waiting for Shirou to come to the door. Shirou always told her it was fine but she didn't listen. The girl was a saint.

He was confused then, when he saw Taiga running in, looking for food.

"Fuji-nee? Where's Sakura? She should be here by now?" Shirou asked her, face in confusion.

This stopped Fuji-nee in her tracks. "Ara? Sakura-chan isn't here? Well, when I walked her home last night she seemed a little odd. Maybe she was upset because she had to go home. I'm sure her grandfather just needed her to do something." Fuji-nee then adopted a pitifull expression.

"Shirou!" she moaned to him. "Feed me!"

Shirou sighed. It was like having a pet. "Fine fine. I'll have breakfast done soon. Let me go get Saber and I'll get started."

Fuji-nee then adopted a smug look. "So Saber-chan is still asleep is she? Wear her out lat night? Shi-rou?"

Shirou stumbled and blood rushed to his head. "Wh-what the hell do you mean by that?" he roared at her. She just looked at him with a smug smile.

Shirou scowled and said "She's an early riser. She's probably in the dojo right now, waiting for me to get her."

Shirou stormed off with his regular scowl then. _'Fuji-nee has the totally wrong idea!'_

He pretended he couldn't hear the sound of Fuji-nee telling him not to make her an aunt already. His thoughts were now cleared of Sakura with this new annoyance.

Walking into the dojo, Saber greeted him. "Good morning Shirou. Did your training with Zangetsu last night prove fruitful?"

Scowl lessening as he caught sight of her, he sighed and said "Yeah. Learned a couple of new tricks. Come on, time for breakfast."

Following him out the door, Shirou left Saber in the dining room as he went into the kitchen. As Shirou started on breakfast, all his worries left him as he began the process.

**A little while later**

Shirou looked at Fuji-nee and Saber devour his food with amazement. He looked with approval at Saber's manners, in contrast to Fuji-nee who was shoveling it all down.

Shirou ate, relaxed, but started choking as Fuji-nee finished up and then asked Saber something ridiculous.

"So." Fuji-nee smiled cunningly. "How was Shirou last night."

As Shirou choked, Saber did not catch the connotation and said, "He performed quite admirably. His attacks were quite strong, and he can make his sword do some impressive things."

As Fuji-nee cackled and asked for more details, Shirou choked and a deep blush covered his face. He looked at Saber in embarrassment and horror as he heard her response.

"Sa-saber!" Shirou choked out to her.

Fuji-nee ignored him and asked Saber how long he had lasted. Close to passing out now, Shirou listened in horror to Saber's next response.

"I was surprised actually. He lasted many hours, until we were both exhausted." Saber did not seem to understand what it was that Fuji-nee was trying to ask her.

Saber heard Shirou choke and looked at him in concern. "Are you alright Shirou? Did you perhaps eat too fast and get something stuck?"

Fuji-nee was laughing even as Shirou denied her claim. "Well stud, I have to get to Archery club. I'll see you later." Fuji-nee zoomed out of the room before Shirou could do something to her.

Saber watched her run away. Shirou was now feeling better, but could not look at Saber without a blush because of the images he had gotten during that little talk.

"I like Taiga." Saber declared to him. "She seems very honest and open. That's a rare trait. I can now see where some of your traits come from if you were raised by her. She also seemed interested in your training with me."

Shirou blushed as he heard Saber's last sentence.

"Are you getting a cold master?" Saber asked, leaning in closer. "Perhaps you trained too hard the night before. Perhaps you should rest today. Exhaustion is the enemy."

Shirou sighed. He mumbled out to Saber to not call him master anymore, but he was starting to get used to it. It seemed she called him that when she was worried.

They both froze as the TV news suddenly reported "-Over fifty victims were found earlier this morning, and they are undergoing treatment-"

"This is a master's work." Shirou solemnly said.

"Yes." Saber agreed, an intense expression on her face. "A servant sucking out people's souls. I suspect Caster might be behind this."

Shirou swore under his breath. He had not expected the other master's to act so quickly. "Saber." He called to her.

"It seems we're going hunting tonight." Shirou declared, face set in determination.

Saber nodded in approval. "I believe that is the correct course of action Shirou."

"Well." Shirou announced, standing up. "It's time for me to go to school. Be careful Saber, call me if someone attacks the house."

"The same to you Shirou." Saber told him, walking him to the door. "You are strong, but be on guard. Even the strongest can be taken off guard. Complacency is the enemy."

"Call me if anything goes wrong. Stay away from Rin, if she is there." Saber told him as he put his shoes on.

Shirou paused. He had forgotten about Rin. "She tried to kill us. Well, I doubt she'll attack me with so many people around. Still, be ready Saber. If she attacks, I'll need your help."

Saber nodded. Shirou walked off.

-This is a page break. Deal with it.-

As Shirou walked up to the gates, he suddenly froze as he crossed the threshold. Taking a discrete look around, he didn't see anyone else seem to notice or be affected.

He scowled. It felt like something was off. Almost like color seemed dull, but no one else seemed to feel anything...

He took a sniff at the air. There was the scent of blood. He took a look around but no one seemed to notice. His mind flashed back to his fight with Lancer. Smelling the air for his sword. A scent that reminded him of death.

There was something here. That was the only thing he could conclude. He didn't know what however. Deciding that he should be cautious, he went into the building and up to the third floor. That's where his classroom was.

As he walked down the hall, he froze suddenly as he caught sight of someone. Rin also froze as she looked at him. She hadn't expected him to be there.

_'I thought he was the skip school to fight type.'_ Rin thought as she turned away to go to her own classroom. It wouldn't be good if they fought there.

She took a step, but froze once again as someone caught her elbow. "Rin. We have to talk. Now." Shirou commanded her. Rin took a look at him. In place of his usual scowl, he had on a serious look.

Shirou took her away, to the roof where it would be more private. Around them, people began whispering to each other as they saw Shirou walking with Rin's arm in his hand.

On the roof, Rin ripped her arm off of Shirou's grasp. "What do you want Emiya?" She asked him, acid in her voice.

"This isn't the time or place to fight Rin." Shirou told her seriously, crossing his arms. "Something's wrong with the school. When I walked in the gates I felt something, and smelt blood. If it's you that's doing this..." He left the sentence open. His meaning was clear.

Rin scowled right back at him. "I didn't do it Emiya. I didn't notice anything but I suppose you would. It was probably another master." Rin pushed her way past Shirou. She stopped near the exit.

"You'd better watch yourself Emiya. I didn't think you'd come to school, but as long as your servant isn't here, I'll kill you." Rin stated, as she walked down.

Shirou scowled, troubled. _'There's another master here?'_

_'But why would Rin just go out and tell me if we're enemies?'_ Shirou was confused as to what Rin was trying to do with that. She goes and tells him that, then tells him that she's going to kill him?

It didn't make any sense. Shirou shook his head and followed her down. It was best not to think about it too much. He and Rin would fight one of these days, but not today.

**Lunch Time**

Shirou had spent much of his morning wondering what Rin had been trying to do when she told him about there being another master, but he kept on drawing blanks.

Shirou stood as he heard the bell. It was lunch time. If he stayed in the classroom, the guys wouldn't talk to him because they were scared of him, and the girls just spent their time giggling at him.

Probably making fun of him. So, he spent his lunch time with Issei in the student council room.

Making his way, he looked out for her, but did not see a sign of Rin. She was probably avoiding him. He walked into the student council room.

Sitting down, he saw Issei with his head down. He blinked. "You aren't eating today Issei?"

Issei shot up, startled. As his eyes focused, he saw Shirou and relaxed. "Ah. Emiya. It's just you."

Shirou repeated his question. Issei nodded. "I already ate. I just want to get some sleep right now."

"Don't you go to sleep early at the temple?" Shirou questioned as he started on his bento.

"Yeah. So I shouldn't be tired, but these days it's like I just can't get enough rest. So I try to sleep all that I can." Issei told him, yawning.

Shirou frowned in his mind. That aura around the school. The one that smelled of blood. Surely Issei being tired and it had no connection...

Shirou shook his head. It was probably coincidence. People got tired all of a sudden like that. But just in case, he and Saber were going on patrol that night. It wouldn't be bad to start at the school, what with Rin being there and apparently a third master besides them.

There was a knock on the door.

"Issei, someone's at the door. I think it's Kuzuki-sensei." Shirou told him, just about finished.

Hearing Kuzuki-sensei's name, Issei stood and opened the door. He greeted the serious sensei, and Shirou caught bits and pieces of their conversation. Something about the archery club, a missing person, and Shinji.

Shirou scowled as he thought about Shinji. He was going to have a talk with him, but he wasn't there that day. He wouldn't put it past that guy to do something like that if he got pissed.

Issei said his good bye to sensei then sat down. "What was that all about Issei. A missing person, the archery club, and, Shinji." Shirou scowled at saying his name.

Issei took his head out of his arms when he heard him. He thought for a moment, then said, "Oh. Well, you aren't an outsider so it's fine I suppose. It seems someone in the archery clubs gone missing. We believe Shinji has something to do with it, as he's not here today, and he was the last one the person saw."

Shirou nodded. "I wouldn't put it past him if he got pissed. I got that much, but who's the person."

Issei looked at him. "I believe you know her. Mitsuzuri Ayako." Shirou froze. _'Ayako?'_ She was a good friend of his. They weren't particularly close after he had quit the archery club, but they were still friends.

-This is a page break. Deal with it.-

Shirou spent the rest of the day wondering about Ayako. She was a tough girl, so it was unusual that she would go missing. He didn't know what he could do however. He had the grail war to worry about.

In the end, he decided that she was made of tough stuff and would be back soon. If he didn't fight the war, she could get hurt or killed anyway. Either way he was protecting her, and that way he was doing it from much more sinister forces.

Shirou stood and gathered his things as the bell rung. The link between he and Saber allowed him to call to her, and so he would call for her so they could start their search at the school. Although the feeling from that morning wasn't strong, Rin had said there was another master at the school. That was somewhat worrying.

He waited at the gate for her, watching the other kids leave. She got there within a few minutes, still in her dress. He had not had a sense of urgency, and she had known they were going hunting. Whoever was still there watched as she walked up to him.

"Shirou. I am here. Where will we begin our search?" Saber inquired as she walked up to him. Around them, people whispered about a beautiful gaijin talking to Emiya Shirou, much like that morning with Rin.

Shirou explained to her the feeling he had gotten that morning, Rin, the other master, and Ayako. Saber nodded in understanding.

"So, I want to walk around the school, and see if we find something. I doubt whether the other master is still here, but we can look for clues. After, I suppose we can only walk around the town waiting for someone to challenge us." Shirou finished explaining to her.

Together, they looked around the school, but could not find anything. They spent hours looking for even the slightest hint, but nothing was there.

"There is nothing here Shirou. It is possible that Rin attempted to deceive you when she told you this this morning." Saber told him as they stood on the roof, watching the sun set.

Shirou sighed. "Yeah. I guess so. I guess, I just wished that Rin wouldn't have to be an enemy. It was foolish to think so."

"Rin knows what she has to do Shirou. She will stop at nothing to get the grail because she is a typical magus." Saber told him, standing behind him as he leaned over the railing.

"Alright. We spent plenty of time here, so let's go home and train. We can look more tomorrow." Shirou told her, standing straight. He didn't notice that he implied it was Saber's home as well.

Neither did Saber. Saber simply nodded. "Time is not our enemy. We have plenty to look."

They started to go towards the exit, when a scream tore through the air. Shirou and Saber both froze, then rushed back toward the railing, and catching a glimpse of purple.

Shirou cursed. "That must be a servant. Saber, go after him, I'll check and see who screamed." Saber nodded, donning her armor and summoning power in a flash of white.

Shirou summoned Zangetsu in a flurry of black, and also summoned his reiatsu in a burst of black. He jumped down the stairs, running to where he had heard the yell.

On the first floor, he saw an opened emergency exit. Rushing in, he saw a girl laying down. He checked her over. "Good, she's just unconscious."

He couldn't let Saber fight alone. He used his burst to flash towards the woods, feeling for Saber. As he was going, he thought he saw something. A flash of blue, a smirk. He stopped immediately.

"Shinji!" he called out. Shinji saw him and his swords, almost as tall and wide as his body, and panicked. He tried to run away, but he was too slow. When he turned around, Shirou was already there.

"Shinji!" Shirou almost growled out. Shinji tried to shake off his fear. He gave a fake smirk.

"Emiya! I was hoping that you and I would have a chance to talk. You see-" Shinji was brutally cut off when Shirou grabbed him from the front of his shirt and pushed him onto a tree.

"Cut the crap Shinji. You were the last person that was seen with Ayako before she disappeared. You did something to her didn't you Shinji. Where is SHE!" He asked, shaking him and yelling out the last word.

Shinji looked at the slightly taller orange haired boy with fear. He swallowed and tried to saw something when Shirou shook him again, demanding an answer.

"I-I don't know anything about that Emiya! I didn't do anything to her! She was the one threatening to expel me from the club!" Shinji babbled on a little more. Shirou believed him, looking at Shinji.

"Then what are you doing here Shinji? Why haven't you been at school lately?" Shirou continued to interrogate him.

Shinji swallowed and tried to tell him once again. "You, that sword Emiya. You're one too, a master for the holy grail war."

Shirou dropped Shinji in his surprise. Shinji shook his clothes, mistakenly believing that Shirou was interested in what he was saying.

"I'm a master too see. I'm not a magus though. Magecraft has been lost in my family for generations. But the grail chose me for some reason. Why don't we team up Emiya?" Shinji asked him a smirk that screamed out he was sure that Shirou would say yes.

Shirou scowled, but that didn't deter Shinji. Shirou had a reputation for scowling all the time, though no one really knew why.

"What about Sakura? She's not involved in this is she?" Shirou questioned.

Shinji shook his head, laughing. "Of course not. Even if my family isn't capable of magecraft anymore, we pass the knowledge down. Only the eldest child receives the knowledge. We're a pretty old family, so you might benefit from that too, though you seem capable already." Shinji admitted, looking at his sword.

Shirou narrowed his eyes. Shinji spoke. "I even have some starter information. You can have it as a sign of trust. There's a master at the top of the Hyudou Temple."

Inwardly Shirou smirked. He had no intention of siding with Shinji, but now he knew the identity of one more master, and the location of another.

Shinji took Shirou's silence as a yes. "Well then Emiya, I-" Shinji was cut off once again as Shirou put his huge cleaver at his neck.

"Now Shinji." Shirou drawled out. "That's some useful information, but whoever said that I would let you go? You're a master after all. Tell you what, give up your command seals and I'll let you live. Sakura would be sad if you died."

Shinji started shaking in a mixture of fear and anger. _'How dare he!?'_ Shinji thought furiously.

"What are you talking about Emiya! You do not want to make me an enemy!" Shinji snarled out.

Shirou pressed Zangetsu closer, drawing a few drops of blood. Shinji stopped. "I said, give up your command seals Shinji. Sakura will be sad if I kill you, but I will kill you if you don't give up now. You're servant isn't here to protect you right now."

Shinji cowered slightly, but stood his ground. "You don't have the guts to kill someone."

"That's where your wrong Shinji." Shirou told him, taking his sword away to slash down. "One of the first lessons my pops taught me was that to be a magus is to walk with death. To protect my family, to protect this town, I will kill you."

Shinji saw he was serious. "RIDER!" he yelled out frantically as he took some kind of book out.

-This is a page break. Deal with it.-

Saber took off from the roof in pursuit of the servant. She noticed Shirou summon his sword and jump down the building out of the corner of her eye.

She followed the purple blur into the woods. "Stop!" She called out.

Out of nowhere, what seemed to be a large nail or dagger came out, aiming for Saber's head. Saber, who had her sword out already, blocked. The nail stopped, seemingly blocked by air to the casual viewer.

A woman, quite beautiful with large, ahem, assets, and purple hair down to her ass came down. She was wearing black, with something covering her eye's.

"Servant Saber." Saber declared, blasting off the ground toward the purple haired figure.

"Servant Rider." Announced the woman, crouched down like a lioness about to catch prey.

She disappeared. Saber stopped and began looking around. The Rider class was known for their speed, though she could not see any kind of steed.

Nails attached to chains came out from nowhere, attempting to pierce Saber's body. Saber was not slow by any means, and blocked every single thrust.

Rider appeared on the branch of a tree. "Well now, you're quite good. And that sword is a real pain, invisible." She spoke in a seductive voice, licking the edge of her nail.

"And you are quite fast." Saber told her, acknowledging that much. "But do not try to deceive me. You try to give your master time to get away."

Rider inclined her head. "Clever too. But you won't be leaving these woods."

Rider approached her up close this time, chains coming to trip her up. Saber jumped over them, slashing down toward Rider, who bended backwards at a ridiculous angle.

Rider continued on into a handstand, kicking her legs out to Saber, who was still in the air. Saber caught the kick on her sword, coming down to the ground as gravity took hold.

Rider threw herself from her fingertips, landing in a crouch and sending her nails from two opposite directions. Saber disappeared out of the path of the chains, and Rider's eye's widened slightly as Saber appeared behind her.

Saber twirled around to stab her in the back, but Rider ducked, and trying to give Saber a mule kick.

Saber jumped back, then continued with her momentum and shot forward. Rider did not move out of the way fast enough this time, receiving a slash mark on her back.

Rider stumbled, but did not show any other expression of pain. To a servant, it was a wound not even worth mentioning.

"That is not pure speed. That is some kind of technique, your feet never touched the ground." Rider spoke as she jumped onto a tree.

Saber gave her something close to a smirk and played her game. "Who knows. Maybe it was a technique, maybe I'm just that fast."

Rider barked out a laugh, and readied herself to attack, when a cry ran out throughout the woods.

"RIDER!"

Rider sighed. "My master is useless." She disappeared through the trees, hopping on them to give her more speed.

Saber wouldn't have any of that however. Saber burst forward, running through the trees to follow.

-This is a page break. Deal with it.-

Shirou memorized Shinji's cry. _'His servant is Rider.'_

He watched as Shinji took a book out. "You shouldn't have done this Emiya!" Shinji cried out in a mixture of fear and anger.

Shinji opened the book and made three slashes of shadows come out of the ground and attack Shirou.

Shirou stood unmoving, slashing through the shadows with a swipe of Zangetsu.

"No way!" Shinji cried, falling on his butt and moving away. "Just what are you?"

Shirou made to move forward, when a purple haired woman burst out from the trees. She stood in front of Shinji in a crouch, nails poised to attack.

Shirou held up his sword in defense in an instant. _'So this is Rider. I don't see what she's supposed to be riding though.'_

Just a few seconds after Rider, Saber also burst out. She took a look and blinked at seeing Shirou.

"Shirou. I have engaged the enemy servant." She spoke, standing by his side.

"It seems I am no match for Saber. She is just a stronger servant than I am." Rider admitted to Shinji, who took a look at the slash on her back.

His head twisted in anger. "Stupis bitch! Can't you do anything right!"

Shirou and Saber scowled simultaneously at Shinji's treatment of his servant. "Well Shinji. You can't fight anymore, and my servant outclasses yours. Give up."

-End Chapter 5-

**AN: Well, I had things to say, but I forgot most of them. I promised an omake last chapter, but lack of time just killed me. I've decided that once this story is over, I'll put all the omake's of Shirou's childhood and such into an optional chapter.**

**Ichirou's confrontation with Rin was the hardest part of this chapter. I'm beginning to notice a pattern forming. I usually start my chapters with a fight and end them with one.**

**I hope you like this chapter, sorry it took a little longer than I had hoped to get it out. Please PM or review with any questions. Read my AN at the top if you haven't already, it is slightly important. Thank you all for reading and enjoying this.**

**Ja ne!**


	6. Souls

He Who Protects the Living

**AN: IMPORTANT – Okay, so this chapter's pretty late. I was still figuring a schedule out, and while that isn't a proper excuse, I'm sorry. I think that I have a schedule for everything pretty much done now. Updates should take one week to one and a half weeks now. Progress will be on my profile as always.**

**Okay, it's been a long time since I've played FSN. I remember the Fate and UBW routes well because of the anime and movie, but I can barely remember Heavens Feel. So, my next update may or may not take a little longer than usual as well. After that though, updates will be according to schedule. There is plenty of story left plus the sequel, so you'll definitely get more.**

**I have a couple of reviews to respond to this time.**

***To Magnus(Guest) – I'm glad you like it so far. I'll consider your suggestion for my Harry Potter story, it is certainly possible. Like I told NIX'S WARDEN, I would like to do that with Kiritsugu, but unfortunately, the way I have written the story so far does not allow it. I'm sorry, because I liked the idea as well, I wish I had had it sooner.**

***To Taromaru – Thank you so much for your amazing review. Really guys, take a look at the review he gave me. Best damn review ever. This chapter's for you man!**

**I don't really have much to say. Thank all of you for reading.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Fate/Stay Night, not Bleach, nor any other reference I may have.**

_Last Time: His head twisted in anger. "Stupid bitch! Can't you do anything right!"_

_Shirou and Saber scowled simultaneously at Shinji's treatment of his servant. "Well Shinji. You can't fight anymore, and my servant outclasses yours. Give up."_

Chapter 6: Souls

Shinji shook. This was supposed to be easy. He had not expected Emiya to be there. He looked at the sword he was carrying. He had not expected Emiya to be a competent magus either. He took a look at Saber. Nor had he expected Saber.

His face twisted in anger. It was all because he had a weak servant. That was why he just couldn't win. If only he had a stronger servant! Then he could show that he was great!

Shinji tried to shake his fear off. "You're kidding right? Right!?"

Shinji laughed a mad laugh. "You're not beating me here Emiya! I can still win! Rider! Attack them! Kill Emiya, then Saber will be easy pickings!"

"Master." Rider began to try to reason with Shinji. "Saber is stronger than me. And her master appears to be able to fight as well. It would be advisable to retreat for no-"

Shinji slapped Rider hard. Shirou's eyes hardened. "Stupid bitch!" Shinji yelled at her in anger. "I gave you an order! Follow it and kill that bastard!"

Rider forced her face to go blank.

Shirou scowled as Shinji declared his intent. He readied himself. It appeared that he would be fighting a servant today. Beside him, Saber also readied herself.

Shirou looked at Shinji. After seeing how he treated his servant, he would feel just a little better about killing him. He tightened his grip on Zangetsu. It had not needed to be this way, but Shinji seemed dead set on fighting till the bitter end.

In front of them, Rider spun into action. Her face was set blank, as she struck at Shirou with her nail. Shirou jumped to avoid it, even as Saber burst forward, attacking at Rider's extended arm.

Rider cartwheeled to the side, showing her speed. Rider ignored Saber, and went after Shirou. Shirou blocked Rider's kick with his own, and swung at the same time. Rider bended to an almost ninety degree angle.

As Shirou's sword passed her head, she flipped back, avoiding Saber's sword. Saber blocked Shirou's view for a split second, which allowed Rider to get behind him and kick him towards Saber.

Shirou cried out slightly in surprise, but stuck Zangetsu in the ground to stop himself. Saber defended him from the nail that Rider had sent at his back. Saber made to move forward, but Rider was already gone.

Shirou looked around frantically, and just put his sword out as Rider appeared in front of him, nail aimed at one of his eyes. He tried to throw the nail to the side, but Rider was suddenly above him, leg aiming down for a kick.

Shirou channeled reiatsu into his body, and disappeared, leaving Rider to make a small crater. Saber went forward, her invisible sword pointed at Rider's neck.

Rider once again twisted her body at an impossible angle, avoiding the blow, and sending a chain at Saber's hand.

Saber avoided using her speed technique. Rider moved as Saber appeared behind her, slashing upwards. She kicked backwards at Saber, who was blown slightly back. Rider jumped straight up, chains maneuvering to entrap Saber.

Shirou was on her in an instant, slashing at the chains and sending them back. Rider was surprised, but quickly brought them back under her control. Rider landed in a crouch and shot towards Shirou. Saber went to her side and thrusted forward.

Rider twisted around like a spiral in midair, still aiming for Shirou. Shirou tried to put his sword out to block, but was hit in his hand from a chain. Rider jumped onto a tree, pulling Shirou up. Shirou cried in pain and released his hold on Zangetsu.

Saber pushed reiatsu into her legs and blasted off the ground towards Rider. She kicked Rider, then spun around and cut through the chain holding Shirou's hand.

Shirou was released and ripped the nail out of his hand. He had fought both Lancer and Berserker, but that did not prepare him for Rider's speed. She was terribly fast, faster than he could possibly keep up with.

Saber was the only reason he could fight back. If it wasn't for her guarding him he would have died several times over by now.

Shirou grit his teeth, and extended an arm to Zangetsu. Zangetsu's cloth extended towards him, wrapping around his hand as a make-shift bandage. He listened to the clangs of Saber and Rider's exchanges as he stood.

Looking down at the cloth, Shirou sent the cloth from Zangetsu to Rider's arm, and caught it. Rider, who has been in a furious exchange with Saber, was caught off guard. Startled, Rider tried to move, but was thrown up into the air.

Shirou and Saber both followed, and sent simultaneous slashes at Rider, who got her nail up in time to prevent her death, but still received two slashes on her chest and stomach.

Shirou and Saber moved in almost perfect tandem. Although Shirou had only trained one day under Saber, it showed in the way he moved. The way he swung his sword. Saber's style of fighting was starting to show in his own.

Rider got up somewhat weakly. Some meters away, Shinji trembled as he looked at the intense fight. He couldn't fight anywhere near that level. _'Emiya. What in the hell are you!? How can anyone fight like that!?' _Shinji could barely follow the fight. He only caught flashes of steel, the sound or panting the clangs of battle.

Shinji wondered if he had done the right thing, as he watched a battle so fast his eyes could not follow the movement. He knew that if he ran, either Shirou or Saber would be on him in less time than it took him to blink.

Shirou and Saber landed behind Rider.

Shirou began to spin his sword on his cloth, an ominous blue glow forming. Swinging forward, Shirou declared, "Getsuga Tensho!" A blue beam in the form of a crescent descended upon Rider.

Rider showed however, that she was the fastest class. Even as injured as she was, she still made it out of the way as the slash carved a trench into the ground. Beside Shirou, Saber once again marveled at the similarities between Excalibur and Shirou's Getsuga Tensho.

Beside Saber, Shirou panted as he executed his attack. That was more draining than he thought it would be. And it hadn't even hit Rider. He could feel his body getting tired, but shook it off. There would be time for rest later.

Shinji was shaking as he saw this attack. _'How is it possible? A human fighting like this, it's not real!'_ Behind Shirou, Shinji saw the illusion of a laughing skull. He looked down at his book.

The Book of False Attendant, what allowed him to control and be Rider's master even if he wasn't a servant. He convinced himself that he could use the book.

He watched as Saber raised her sword to block Rider's remaining nail. He opened the book and desperately sent more weak shadows to her in an attempt to distract her. Saber looked at the shadows with surprise, but they did nothing but splash against her body.

Behind Shinji, Shirou's face twisted into a fierce scowl as he saw this. "Shinji!" He roared out, running toward Shinji. Saber tried to follow but was blocked by Rider. Even for a servant, Rider's injuries were getting too big, it was a wonder she continued to fight.

Saber took a moment to acknowledge Rider's resilience. Shinji tried to run as Shirou came after him. Shirou used Zangetsu's cloth to tie his legs, causing him to trip. Shinji tried to crawl, but Shirou appeared in front of him.

"This is my last warning Shinji. Give up now, or I will kill you." Shirou told him, face set in stone. Shinji shook his head, like he couldn't comprehend his current situation.

"Shinji!" Shirou shook him. Shinji looked up at him, fear in his eyes as he grabbed his book from his pocket and tried to use the shadows to attack once more.

Shirou roared as he slashed forward. Shinji only knew his shadows immediately getting erased, and a blue flash before he knew nothing else. The attack had cut through the shadows with incredible ease, and mangled Shinji's body just as easily. His body was cleanly cut in half.

Shirou looked at Shinji's body with an unreadable expression.

Shinji's book burned.

Although he found Shinji to be an annoyance, and he had always hated how he treated Sakura, he hadn't wanted him to die. Shirou tried to crush this feeling down, but could feel himself regretting having to kill him. He had given Shinji a choice and yet Shinji had spit it back in his face. He could not understand Shinji's motives.

When it came down to it, Shinji had tried to kill him and Saber. He had attacked Saber, someone who he had sworn to protect. Shinji made his choice. Shirou was a shinigami. He walked with death far closer than any magus. It was only right for him to kill him, to protect his family. Shinji was the kind of person that would have killed anyone who stood in his way.

Shirou was only slightly surprised when Shinji appeared a few feet away from his mangled corpse, chain on his chest.

-When life gives you lemons, throw them at Shinji-

Rider stopped fighting when she felt Shinji die. She looked at Saber, then fled. Now that Shinji was dead, there was another who she needed to attend to more. She went into spirit form, disappearing from view.

Saber did not try to run after her. If Rider was truly running away, she wouldn't be able to keep up. She still did not know what Rider's steed is, so she might be in trouble if Rider decided that she would take Saber down with her.

She would die soon without a master anyway. She walked over to Shirou as soon as she could no longer feel Rider's presence. She came upon the surprising scene of a dead person standing over his body.

Saber blinked. "Shirou?" Shirou looked at her, as Shinji looked at his chest in fear, pulling on his chain and screaming in pain.

"He's dead. This is what happens to people when they die. They form as a spirit over their body with a chain in their chest." Shirou told her, looking back at Shinji, who started to come to a realization as he looked at his body.

"It didn't have to be this way Shinji. You didn't need to die." Shirou told him. Shinji only shook, looking at his mangled corpse.

Shirou sighed. In his head, he heard a voice. _'It is only right that you allow him to rest Shirou.'_

Shirou nodded in acceptance. He walked up to Shinji, raising his sword. Shinji yelped, wondering if he was going to die twice.

Shirou raised his hilt, light starting to shine from it. Shinji backed away, still shaking, but was not very fast. Shirou placed the hilt on Shinji's forehead. Light began to shine from it.

Shirou expected the mud he had heard from other spirits. He was surprised then, when the light on Shinji's forehead turned to energy that was sucked up by the ground, which in turn cracked, and an ominous gate started coming out. There were skeletons on the gate, arms held to the edge that opened it. Chains holding the doors closed rattled as they became undone.

Shirou and Saber watched stunned as the doors opened and a monster could vaguely be seen, with a sword in hand that skewered Shinji. Shinji looked as if he was crying as the blade pulled him in, crazed laughter coming from the doors.

Shinji disappeared and the gates closed once more, chains wrapping around it. It once more descended into the ground, the ground healing as if nothing had happened.

"Wha-what was that?" Shirou voiced his thought. Saber beside him was silent, although she felt she knew.

_'I did not expect that. Those were the gates of hell. When a soul commits great evil in life, the gates open when konso is performed. It seems that Shinji truly was not a good person.'_ Zangetsu told Shirou, voice carrying a note of sadness.

Shirou felt whatever sympathy he had held for Shinji fade away. To have committed such acts that he would be sent to hell...

Shirou was almost sure this had something to do with how he treated Sakura. That bruise he had seen on her what seemed like a life time ago. He had no doubt it was Shinji that caused it.

Shirou explained all of this to Saber. Saber nodded, not looking like she felt any remorse either as she heard Shirou speak.

Shirou sighed. Zangetsu disappeared in a flurry of black particles. "Let's go Saber. Fuji-nee will be home soon." As soon as he spoke these words, he felt his vision waver as he felt the adrenaline leaving his system. He felt his body collapse as Saber caught him with a loud cry of "Shirou!"

"Are you alright master!? What's wrong?" Saber demanded of him as she let her armor fade and placed his head on her lap. Shirou had to internally laugh at Saber's cute worried expression.

At the same time he felt his face flush red as he felt the increasingly familiar feel of Saber's thighs. "I guess I overdid it, hehehe." Shirou weakly muttered. Saber sighed as Shirou said this.

"You shouldn't have tried so hard to keep up master. You will destroy your body this way. A human body is just not made for servant level fights. You should rely on me more." Saber told him, a scary look on her face.

Shirou muttered out something about not calling him master, but did not otherwise answer her. Saber grabbed him in her arms. Shirou felt his face flush red again. Usually it was the man who carried the woman after a difficult fight.

"Sleep master. Exhaustion is the enemy." Saber told him as she started to walk back home. Shirou never remembered about the girl that was 'unconscious.'

-When life gives you lemons, throw them at Shinji-

In the distance Rin was a little shaken as she watched Shirou and Saber fight Rider. She could barely keep up with Saber and Rider, which was expected, as they were servants. But Shirou...

A human should not be capable of fighting to that extent. To keep up with servants. She watched just a little horrified as Shinji was bisected. Beside her Archer watched with narrowed eyes. It seemed that this Shirou really wasn't him.

Killing his past self would only work if he was killing his self from his original time line. He felt a spike of pain in his head as he thought this. Archer was confused about that. The head pains, what did they mean? The image he had seen in the fight with Berserker...

He watched with mixed feelings as Shinji died. He felt somewhat relieved that Shirou was a little less broken than he remembered. But still. If Shirou went down the path he did, not his past self or not, it would be a mercy to kill him now, before his ideals shattered.

He was happy that Rin at least seemed like she was angry enough to not try to fight him when he would try to kill his other self. She still seemed to have a soft spot for this Shirou, but was offset by her anger at him lying to her.

He watched Shirou collapse, but was not surprised. A human shouldn't be able to fight on that level without some consequence. Now would be the ideal time to attack.

He looked at Rin with a questioning glance. Rin looked at Archer, who was looking at her expectantly. "We won't attack right now. He won't heal from that any time soon. Let's go after Rider. Now that she has no master, we can take her out quickly."

Archer felt that there was another reason she didn't want to attack but kept quiet. He grabbed Rin's waist and jumped, running after where Rider had gone.

The time to kill Shirou would come.

-When life gives you lemons, throw them at Shinji-

Saber hurried back. With Shirou in her arms, she quickly arrived at Shirou's home. She looked down at Shirou. It seemed as if he had taken her advice, as he was out cold. Saber took the keys out of Shirou's pocket and let them in.

In the doorway, she took her and Shirou's shoes off. As she was starting to walk to Shirou's room to put him to bed, a figure appeared.

"SHIROU! I'M HUNGRY!" Wailed a tiger that had somehow gotten inside. Said tiger blinked as she saw Shirou in Saber's arms.

Saber quickly thought something up. "My apologies Fujimura-san. We were training and it appears that I worked him too hard."

Taiga bowed her head in regret, tears in her eyes. "Mou. Now what are we going to eat! Sakura isn't here either. She called and said she had a guest."

Saber blinked. This was a problem she had not foreseen. "Allow me to put Shirou to bed, then I will come down and help you make something."

Taiga grinned. "Yeah! Shirou's not the only one that can cook!"

Saber went up to Shirou's room and laid out his futon. She gently laid him on it, then went down. She regretted not being able to eat Shirou's cooking, but hunger was the enemy, and Shirou was sleeping.

**A few minutes later**

Shirou woke up. He was exhausted, so he would not have normally woken up so soon, but...

What was that smell? Shirou sat up and sniffed the air. He narrowed his eyes. There was a disturbance. Sitting up and wincing a bit at his injuries. He looked down at his body in wonder. He had gotten really beat up. Why had his injuries healed so fast?

He remembered Saber telling him it might be his Zanpakutou. He thought about the bandages he used both to fight and wrap his injuries, and decided that Zangetsu probably had some kind of healing property.

He smelled the air once again and decided there was something a little more important that he had to attend to. He stood and made his way down.

**Another few minutes later**

Saber and Taiga sat seiza as Shirou lectured them on the travesty that they had made in the kitchen. They were trying to make a stew, Fuji-nee's choice, but what they had done in there...

Shirou was ashamed that he had passed out when there was food to be cooked. Saber and Fuji-nee didn't seem to know the difference of some of the things they had tried to do.

"...and that is why you two are never going to do that again. I don't know how you made that...thing, but I will prevent that from ever happening again." Shirou finished.

Saber looked up and spoke. "Should you be up Shirou? Although I have committed a great misdeed, it was to allow you time to recover. Should you strain yourself, you will be worse off for it."

Beside her, Fuji-nee nodded frantically, hoping her punishment would be lessened if Saber put Shirou in a good mood.

Shirou sighed. "I feel fine. I'm going to see if there's something that I can salvage, though I doubt it. You two stay here and wait."

They bowed their heads at him. As he left, Fuji-nee whispered to Saber. "Is he this domineering with you? Or is this just a kitchen thing?"

"Shirou is a very firm person. Although, I have never seen him this in charge before." Saber replied back in a hushed tone.

"No talking behind my back!" They both froze as an aura of fear overtook them.

Some time later at the table.

Fuji-nee ate her stew with gusto. Beside her, Saber ate slow but sure and precise bites as she slowly devoured her meal. Shirou looked at them, happy that they were enjoying his meal. A thought suddenly came to mind.

"Fuji-nee. Has there been any progress with Ayako?" He asked her. Fuji-nee was a clown, but she was still a teacher. She must know something.

Fuji-nee stopped her advance for a moment. "Ayako-chan? Yeah, we found her. She wasn't badly hurt, just a little confused. She's at a hospital near here, so go and talk to her yourself if your so worried."

She resumed her attack twice as hard. To make up for lost time. Shirou sighed in relief. He had been worried, but there had been more important things to worry about at the time.

**After dinner**

Shirou laid back down in his futon and sighed. What a tiresome day. The morning at school with Rin, Ayako going missing, Shinji's death, Rider's escape, and, worst of all, Fuji-nee and Saber's little...concoction.

There had been no time to train that night, but Shirou was too tired anyway. He had just said goodnight to Saber and come to his room.

His body ached all over. Well, at least the day was over. He would need his rest, as he and Saber would most likely attack the master atop the Ryudou Temple the next day. He closed his eyes.

-When life gives you lemons, throw them at Shinji-

Shirou opened his eyes. He looked around the increasingly familiar surroundings of his soul. The endless desert stabbed with countless swords. The skyscrapers that came out of nowhere in the distance. Zangetsu stood some meters away.

"It's time to train Zangetsu." Shirou said as a way of greeting. Zangetsu nodded in agreement.

"Prepare yourself, Ichigo." Zangetsu stated as he materialized himself in his hands. Shirou's hands went to his back, but he was not there anymore.

"You will learn to shape me however you want today. I will continuously attack you so you can learn to do this in the midst of battle." Zangetsu told him.

Shirou rolled his head on his shoulders and prepared himself. He thought about which weapon he could use. His mind flashed to Lancer. The lance with the feel of death. Like his own powers. Holding his arms out, he forced his vision of Gae Bolg into existance.

A pitch black lance formed in his hands. Somewhere in his mind, something clicked and he took a ready stance he had seen Lancer use. He stared Zangetsu down. Zangetsu's coat flickered, and Shirou took off.

-When life gives you lemons, throw them at Shinji-

**At an unknown location**

"Sir, someone a spirit has just gone to hell from a konso." Spoke a man with spiky brown hair, and three small horns in his forehead. The man he was speaking to, wearing a white coat with his face full of make up, like a clown, responded.

"People go to hell every day. What's so special about this one?" asked the man, as he worked on a set of paper work.

"The location Captain. Captain, this place doesn't exist." Spoke the man, holding a report out for the Captains eyes.

Intrigued, the Captain took a look. He frowned. _'Where is this supposed to be? This location. I've never heard of it before.'_ The man rubbed at his head absentmindedly as he felt a small pain.

-When life gives you lemons, throw them at Shinji-

Shirou opened his eyes wearily. The sun was streaming in his window. Zangetsu was just as much a slave master as Saber was. He stood, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and stretching out. Absentmindedly he wondered if Saber was awake yet.

He looked at the clock and was startled to see how late it was. Sakura had to be there already. He dressed as quickly as he could and hurried down. "Huh?" he asked as he took a look around the house. Sakura wasn't there. He checked the kitchen, the living room, and the shed.

Taking a look in the dojo, he saw Saber but not Sakura. Saber opened her eyes. "Good morning, Shirou. How are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm fine. More importantly, has Sakura already been here?" he asked distractedly, wondering where she could be. Saber shook her head.

"I have not. Perhaps she still has business with her grandfather." She told him. Shirou scowled, thinking.

"That's an awful lot of time to spend helping your grandfather. It's been days." he said. Turning to go out, he was interrupted as Fuji-nee came in. Prepared for screaming, he was instead surprised to see her semi-serious.

"Shirou, come into the dining room. Someone's died." she told him, quite seriously. Shirou's eyes widened, and he shared a look with Saber, who looked serious.

At the dining room

"What's this about someone dying?" Shirou asked as he sat down.

Fuji-nee looked about as serious as she could be. "We found her this morning by the emergency exit. We can't identify the cause of death right now, but she was a student. We think might have been attacked because there is no identifiable cause of death."

Shirou's eyes widened in horror as his mind flashed back to yesterdays events. _'That girl. The one I decided was just passed out. I passed out after the fight, so she never got any help. But she was just passed out!'_ Shirou's mind thought numbly.

Saber, who had not seen her, just looked at Shirou confusedly. She wondered why his face was twisting into that shape. Fuji-nee continued. "There isn't any school today while we try to figure this out. I'm going to be out for all of today too. Everyone is going to get a call. That's probably why Sakura isn't here today."

Shirou felt numb. He had seen that girl. Pronounced her okay. It was his fault that she died.

"That's the only reason I came. I'm going to get breakfast later, you stay here with Saber. Try not to go out today." Fuji-nee finished. She stood and made her way out.

"I'll be back for dinner Shirou." she called out to him. Shirou did not respond.

As soon as Fujimura was gone, Saber began to question him. "Shirou? What's wrong?"

Shirou numbly began to tell her the events of yesterday, after they had heard that scream and Rider. Saber listened closely. As soon as Shirou finished, she began to speak.

"That is not your fault Shirou. She died as a result of this war, but you avenged her. You killed Rider's master, and Rider will soon die without a master as well. We knew people were going to die Shirou, that's why you're fighting." Saber told him coolly.

Shirou knew she was right. He knew he couldn't save everyone. But she was right in front of him! He had had the chance but he had done nothing!

Shirou could do nothing but sit there blankly. He stood. "I'm going for a walk. Stay here Saber." Saber blocked his path.

"You're not going out alone Shirou. I'm going with you." She stated. Shirou almost growled at her.

"You're staying here Saber. I want to be alone." Shirou told her. He took a few steps to the door, then hurried when Saber did nothing to stop him.

Outside, Shirou tried to pretend there wasn't an aura of anger right behind him. Saber looked at his back somewhat coldly. Shirou did nothing but wander around town for a few hours.

Eventually, he found himself coming to the street where he had beaten up the thugs a few days ago. He stood at the flower vase set out for that child. He noticed that the child was no longer there.

Behind Shirou, Saber looked at his back angrily. She was about to speak, when a cry rang through the area. Startled, both she and Shirou stood stock still, then exploded into action as they heard it once more.

Shirou forgot about why he was out there as he followed the cry. He looked behind him at Saber, who followed swiftly. She was wearing her armor.

Not too far away, they once again stopped as they saw the oddest sight. Shirou knew where the cry had come from now. In front of him, was the child that he had helped a few days ago. He was surrounded in a cocoon of black mud.

Surprised, Saber also stopped beside him. "What is happening to him, is this the work of a master?"

Shirou shook his head. "I've never actually seen this before. This is what other spirits have described to me as a soul passing on."

Saber looked back, stunned. "This is what happens when someone passes on?" Her voice sounded incredulous. Shirou nodded in agreement.

_'Shirou. That is not how people pass on.'_ Shirou frowned, dread coming upon him as he heard Zangetsu. Creeping horror in his voice, Shirou asked, "What do you mean?"

Saber looked at him as he started talking to himself, and correctly deduced that he was talking to Zangetsu.

_'A soul passes on when they find a shinigami to take them to the Soul Society. If this doesn't happen, they become a hollow. There is nothing else.'_ Zangetsu told him.

_'I'm not sure what is happening to this young one, but it is likely his soul is being harmed. Shirou, you must perform a konso on him.'_ Zangetsu finished with a note of urgency. Shirou nodded, approaching the child looking at him with fear in his eyes.

Shirou raised his arm and allowed Zangetsu to manifest. "Shirou?" Saber asked him silently what was going on. Shirou ignored her, there would be time for that later.

Raising Zangetsu's hilt, he gently placed it on the forehead of the disappearing child. "Don't worry kid."

The child was enveloped in a soft white glow. The mud started dissolving off his form. "You're going to rest now." The child slowly disappeared in white, looking at Shirou with wonder.

A few feet behind Saber looked on in wonder. _'This is what a shinigami does?'_

The child disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a black butterfly that slowly disappeared into the sky. Shirou watched it leave with a soft expression that he had not shown on his face in a while.

Saber looked at Shirou, who was staring into the sky with a smile she did not think he was possible of giving.

Shirou looked at her staring and started explaining what he thought was going on. "...and so I just performed a konso so the kid could go to the Soul Society."

Saber nodded in understanding. "Then, what is this black mud that is harming them? Do you believe that it is destroying their souls?"

Saber looked upset. Shirou shrugged. "I don't know. The only thing that is clear to me is that souls are being harmed by this black mud. I have never seen another shinigami, or a hollow, yet I have had powers all my life. Why is that?"

Shirou thought for a moment, then decided. "Lets go around town and perform konso on every soul we can find. There is something not right here, I would rather that the souls are able to pass on without worries."

Saber nodded in acceptance. Shirou was in this to protect as many people as he could. It was natural that he would do this. Moreover, she expected he would no longer be able to fight if he did not do this. He would regret it and it would weigh on his mind while they fought.

Together, they spent a couple more hourse going around town and performing konso on every soul they found. There were some souls that Shirou had known that were no longer there, which made him regret he had been too late. Some had been like the child. Some had just been floating around.

Finally though, they finished. Walking home, Shirou looked at Saber. "I'm sorry I wasted this day Saber. I-" Saber interrupted him.

"Don't worry about it Shirou. This gives us more time to form a plan of action and rest for the attack on Ryudou Temple. You have still not fully healed, so we would not have been able to go today." Saber told him as they slowly approached Shirou's home.

It was night time, and Shirou caught himself looking at Saber's face many times throughout the night. Her hair shined in the moonlight.

They arrived home quickly, and took off their shoes. "Fuji-nee must be pissed off that we're so late." Shirou despaired a little.

They walked into the living room, then stopped dead. Saber jumped backwards, armor forming around her body. Shirou immediately put his arms out and summoned Zangetsu. He twirled it a bit, and took a ready stance.

"Senpai. I'm sorry but we need to talk."

Shirou's eyes widened in horror as he heard the familiar voice. His hand trembled a little. In front of him, a figure dressed in black clothes with long purple hair was looking at him and Saber wearily. In front of her, was a person he had not seen in days. Sakura looked uncomfortable at Shirou's scrutiny, and a little scared at his sword.

Shirou choked.

-When life gives you lemons, throw them at Shinji-

**At an unknown location**

A figure dressed with a white coat looked at a computer with a frown. _'It happened again. Several times in fact. This place. These souls. Where are they coming from?'_

-Chapter 6 end-

**AN: I know what you're thinking. I took this long, then I give you a chapter this pitiful? Well, I have no excuse. I have just about figured out a schedule that should work for me as far as writing goes, so I hope this does not happen again. I also got sick this weekend, so my writing probably suffered a little because of that. But, I promised to have it out today.**

**IMPORTANT – I have to replay Heavens Feel because I'm starting to need that info, and I haven't played it in a long time. It won't take me long, but the next chapter will take a little longer than I'm comfortable with. Updates _will_ start coming regularly after I finish. There is still plenty of story left, and there is no way I will give up.**

**I know that it's a little odd that Saber would let Rider go, but I need her alive. A little bad way to do it, but yeah. I'm starting to leave canon more and more, so at least it won't be that bad.**

**Progress on my next chapter will be on my profile as always. Check there, I update it often. I'm sorry for the poor quality, length, etc.**

**Ja ne!**


	7. The Other Master's

He Who Protects the Living

**AN: Unfortunately, it's been a while. There are many reasons for this. I started to reread HF like I said last chapter. Then I ended up rereading UBW as well. My robotics meetings are almost every day, so that took time up. Plus the first pre qualifying thing starts on Nov. 3. I needed to go to the doctor for an MRI. My internet hasn't been working right for 2 or 3 weeks. Such is life.**

**It was also part writers block. Since it has been so long. But Nix's Warden helped a lot with that. Without him, this chapter might have taken even more. Thanks man, stay cool.**

**I think this chapter is of slightly better quality than my last chapter. Hopefully I can start updating once a week or less again now that rereading and life problems are mostly solved.**

**I have put a poll on my profile, for my next story. As this thing happened, I decided that if I ever need to take a break from this story for some odd reason, I can focus on the other story while I finish my business. I would of course work on both simultaneously. It wouldn't be that hard. Of course, it is entirely possible that I won't start on that story. It's just a failsafe of sorts.**

**I made a rather large mistake last chapter. Rider isn't supposed to be that strong under Shinji, only under Sakura. Hehe, I forgot. It's a rather big mistake to go back and fix however, so I'll leave it. My inexperience as an author showing I guess. Someday I'll look back and remark on how badly written this story is after my future ones.**

**Normally I would have more stuff to say, about the story, and whatever else, but I have nothing today. That's a clue it has been too long.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night, Bleach, or any other work I may or may not reference in this or any other story.**

_Last time: Shirou's eyes widened in horror as he heard the familiar voice. His hand trembled a little. In front of him, a figure dressed in black clothes with long purple hair was looking at him and Saber wearily. In front of her, was a person he had not seen in days. Sakura looked uncomfortable at Shirou's scrutiny, and a little scared at his sword._

_Shirou choked._

Chapter 7: The Other Master's

**Unknown Location**

An old frail looking man wearing a white coat over a black kimono looking pair of clothing and a long white beard frowned as he looked down at a report from one of his Captains. _'This location. I know every location in the living world, and yet I don't know where this is.'_

Immediately after thinking this, he felt a strong ache in his head. His eyes opened slightly. That was not a good sign. He stood. This was a matter he would deal with personally. It would be of no use to interrogate the konso'ed souls, as their memories would have been lost. But he could start looking for this place.

It looked like it was in Japan at least. The general area at least.

The elderly man felt a bad omen. He knew there was something terribly wrong. He had forgotten something important. For someone such as him, that was a deadly mistake.

-He who walks with death, hand in hand-

Shirou was choking. It wasn't that he was surprised. Somehow, seeing Sakura with Rider was not that surprising. His mind flashed back to several instances that should have clued him in on this. Sakura's worry at his hand's wound. Sakura not being at his house for days. Sakura looking so worried these past couple of days. Shinji saying that Sakura had nothing to do with this.

He should have realized. He supposed that somewhere in him he already had realized. There was no way that Sakura would have nothing to do with this. The Matou were an old line of magi. There was no way she wouldn't be involved if she was still living there with Shinji.

**A sword flashed.**

He was choking because of his stupid obliviousness. He vaguely noticed Saber looking torn between looking at him worriedly and keeping guard against Rider. Sakura looking down with her bangs covering her eyes. Rider looking at him with a mix of feelings.

In some corner of his mind he wondered whether or not Sakura was here to try and kill him for killing Shinji. Although he had hated Shinji since he had discovered he hit Sakura, she had always defended him. Always felt some weird feeling for him. Shinji, no matter if he beat her was her blood. And he was just her senpai.

"Sakura, you're a magus?" The words spilled out before he could stop them. Sakura looked uncomfortable at the question. She nodded.

"You may not know this senpai, but the Matou were one of the original three families that created the Heaven's Feel ritual. We were once known as Makiri, and we created the system with the Einzbern and the Tohsaka. It's natural that we be involved." Sakura explained to him, never lifting her head.

"I hoped that you weren't involved senpai." Sakura told him. She was still looking down. He couldn't see her eyes. Slowly he started to calm down, but remained tense. She might be here to kill him.

But still.

**A sword fell.**

How could he fight Sakura? That cute underclassmen who had helped him ever since he got hurt. Almost his sister. How could he possibly fight her!?

"I kept on convincing myself that you didn't know. I always knew you were a magus, you exude power almost every minute. It's just like you to get involved in something like this." Sakura continued speaking. Her voice sounded sad. Almost afraid.

"This is a war and you want so desperately to become a hero." Sakrua continued.

"Then Saber-san started to live here and I knew you were involved. I gave my Rider to Shinji, with his promise that he wouldn't kill you. Then Onii-san died." Sakura hit the subject Shirou knew she was here for. He swallowed. Rider seemed unconcerned at the mention of her ex-fake master.

**Blood stained his lips. A sword fell to the ground.**

"Shinji was abusing Rider. He was going to use her to kill people. Rider, how many people did Shinji make you kill?" Shirou tried to reason with Sakura. He felt guilty for her, but he did not regret his action. It was the only path he could have taken.

Rider responded, if only for the fact that she had hated Shinji. "About half a dozen. I do not need to do so anymore with Sakura as my master however."

Shirou didn't feel too bad about killing Shinji though. He didn't know what Shinji had done to deserve going to hell, but the fact is that Shinji had to have been a bad person who had committed evil acts to be sent to hell.

Sakura lifted her head up, looking somewhat surprised. "When it came down to it, I couldn't let Shinji keep on killing people, and I was stronger than him." Shirou told her.

"It's natural that Onii-san would lose to a magus that exudes power like you senpai." Sakura tried to say weakly. Shirou knew that he had to lie to her. If Sakura was a magus, then no matter how weak and frail she appeared to be, she was one who walked with death, hand in hand.

**His arms fell then. A laugh. "I did not think you were the serpent type."**

He wouldn't destroy Sakura's hopes that her brother would rest. He couldn't. He couldn't stand to see Sakura in pain like that. He knew he had to comfort her.

"You're wrong in one regard Sakura." Shirou said, eyes closing. Saber shot him an alarmed look, seeing where he was going with this.

"Shirou-" Saber started, but was cut off immediately. Shirou was ignoring Saber, and she shot him a cross look.

"I am one who walks with death, but I am not a magus." Shirou closed his eyes as Sakura looked up for the first time since greeting him in surprise.

**His inner organs no longer supported him. He was dead, his body had just not quite realized yet.**

"I am what is known as a shinigami." Shirou declared, opening his eyes.

**The battle was already decided. The swordsman had not stood a chance and was felled quickly.**

"W-what do you mean senpai?" Sakura was starting to get confused. "You exert so much prana naturally, you summoned a servant, so-"

"I killed your brother, and I led him to the next world." Shirou interrupted her.

**The mountain was quiet. The body of Assassin, Sasaki Kojirou exploded.**

Sakura had tears in her eyes. "W-what?"

"I have always been able to see the souls of the dearly departed. This is because I am one who leads souls to their next life, a god of death." Shirou told her. He would tell her what he was, but not everything.

Rider stiffened at his declaration and shot him a murderous glance. Sakura seemed to understand why this was and was shooting Rider a warning glance. Shirou ignored this.

**Bones cracked, body and organs became deformed. A hand shot out of Assassin's stomach.**

"Your brother is resting Sakura. I have lead him into the next life, and you don't have to worry anymore." Shirou told her. Tears began spilling out of her eyes. Shirou wasn't sure if it was relief, sadness, or something else.

**He smiled, even though he was denied an honorable death. A white mask. The sound of insects. The glee of an animal having his first meal as flesh was teared from Assassin's corpse. The mask became bigger, stronger, more wise like a man. The moon shined as True Assassin came into the world.**

Sakura was silent for a while. Shirou and Saber stood while Rider guarded Sakura. Rider was almost gritting her teeth. Sakura broke the silence. "Yes. It fits your character senpai."

Shirou stared at her. Sakura stood. "My grandfather wants to discuss an alliance with you tomorrow senpai. Will you come?"

Shirou looked at Saber out of the corner of his eyes. She was standing stiffly. He said, "At what time?" Saber shot him a glare. He ignored her.

Sakura told him what time she would come the next day to lead them, then left. Rider shot him one last glance before she went into spirit form.

Saber started on him as soon as she felt that the servant was gone. "Master, you should have waited to consult with me before you agreed to meet with Sakura-san's grandfather. Not to mention telling her about your powers, how can you expect to win this war if other masters find out what you can do?"

Shirou scowled as Saber ranted at him. "Geez, I know Sakura. It's not like I'm going to be walking into a trap, I trust her. Beside's, all I told her was that I lead people to the next life, it's not like I told her about Zangetsu."

Saber had to concede to that point. "Still master, I am your partner am I not? You should still consult with me before you decide on something like this."

Shirou sighed. She was right. "Yeah, you're right Saber. I'm sorry. I'll talk it over with you first next time." Saber looked pleased with herself. She had finally imparted a bit of sense to her stubborn master.

"Alright then." Still standing, Shirou made his way to the kitchen. Saber got an embarrassed look on her face as she eagerly sat down to await dinner. A lthough she didn't need to eat since she got so much reiryoku from Shirou, she couldn't help herself.

**After dinner**

Saber sat content after her meal. She and Shirou were draped underneath blankets at the side of the house, kneeling and sipping tea. (Not sure what this is called. The place where Kiritsugu died. If anyone knows what this is called, I'll replace the name.)

They quietly finished their tea and just sat there, until Shirou broke their silence. "What will we do about the servant at the Ryudou Temple? Should we leave her or go after her tomorrow before we go to talk with Sakura's grandfather?"

Saber didn't need to think long. "Should Sakura become our ally our chances of defeating that servant go up by a good amount. I believe it would be beneficial to wait and see."

Shirou scowled but accepted it. "I suppose so. I guess we just have to be patient."

Shirou and Saber stayed there for some time before they went to sleep.

-He who walks with death, hand in hand-

Lancer talked to himself as he walked down the temple. He was wondering at the weak defenses. He figured that Caster would have put up better ones.

Lancer was completely healed from his fight with Emiya and Saber. He wished his master was not such a coward that he could go back and fight properly with them. Eventually, he would.

Suddenly, he stopped. "Oh? Why don't you come out? I assure you, it will be quite fatal for you if you don't. " Immediately, dozens of darks came out at him. Darks were dagger like throwing weapons. A mask hung in the darkness.

Lancer didn't bat an eye and effortlessly defended himself. The mask stopped. It should have been impossible for Lancer to block that many daggers, all thrown at the speed and with the power of a gun. Lancer grinned with bloodlust. Killing intent hung in the air.

Clangs of metal against metal rang out as Lancer charged through, defending and blocking at the same time at the assault. He struck at True Assassin, and the mask was blown off of Assassin's face.

Lancer grinned. "yOu HavE SEEn mY fACe lAncER." The shadow knew not how to properly speak man's tongue. "I sEE. YoU haVE A BlOck, ThAT iS wHY yOu dO NoT kILL ME."

Assassin refrained from wasting his darks. Lancer must have protection against arrows. As expected of a hero like him. Assassin instead led him to the water. Once there, Lancer thought to himself. _'Must not be able to self-heal. Drugs it seems like. My master said not too, but I think I'll kill this one.'_

In the water, Lancer was taken aback when a multitude of insects came to entrap him, but he easily escaped, destroying hundreds of them. So many came, it was as if they made the moon disappear into black. The moment cost him dearly.

True Assassin activated his Noble Phantasm. A hand shot out and pierced Lancer. A fake heart was removed and subsequently crushed. Lancer fell. The insects faded away.

True Assassin's Noble Phantasm, Zabaniya, the cursed hand. It was a curse that created a fake heart that would affect the true. In his moment of distraction and his underestimation of Assassin, Lancer had fallen. The eery sound of an animal eating flesh sounded through the area once more.

-He who walks with death, hand in hand-

Shirou awoke in the now familiar surroundings of his soul. Zangetsu stood there as always. Shirou didn't need any prompting and immediately created Lancer's lance. "Not today Ichigo." Shirou was stopped short.

"Huh?" Was Shirou's intelligent reply. Zangetsu looked out towards the buildings in the distance.

"Tomorrow you go into a talk with another master. I feel as if you should learn something besides close range combat. It never hurts to be prepared Ichigo. Once, you were the best archer in the school. It is time to see if your skills have rusted." Zangetsu said as a bow appeared in Shirou's hands.

Shirou looked at the bow in awe. It was a replica of the bow Archer used, but a smooth black with a shiny silver colored string. Around him, the various swords that littered his world began to twist.

Arrows soon covered his world. He looked up at Zangetsu who stood with himself in his hands. "Come Ichigo. Try to hit me."

-He who walks with death, hand in hand-

Saber's mind once again took her to a place that she didn't recognize. The same figure, dressed in black armor stood. "Who are you? And where am I?" Saber tried to ask. She felt cold, and faded from her world as soon as she had arrived.

-He who walks with death, hand in hand-

Shirou awoke with a gasp. Looking down, his injuries from his training with Zangetsu were gone as always. Shaking the sleep from his head, he stood and started to dress.

After Shirou's morning rituals, he went down to start on breakfast. Beginning, he thought to his meeting with Sakura's grandfather later that day. He hoped it would go well. It would be a great relief to be able to keep Sakura safe directly, and to maybe get a little help.

Finishing up, he started towards the dojo, where Saber liked to sit until breakfast. Opening the shoji doors, he stopped and stared as he seemingly did every morning. Saber was sitting with her eyes closed, and the sun shining on her. She opened her eyes as she heard him come in.

"Breakfast is ready Saber." Shirou told her. Saber smiled in happiness and followed him out.

As Shirou was taking the plates out, he stopped as he heard a rumbling noise. Looking up, he was startled by a loud cry of, "SHIROUUUUUU! FOOOODDD!" Shirou scowled.

Fuji-nee sat down at the table eagerly awaiting her food. Shirou served her, and sat down. He looked at Fuji-nee, eating with abandon to Saber's slow destruction, and sighed. He would really need to fix Fuji-nee's manners one of these days.

As Fuji-nee was eating, she asked, "Where's Sakura-chan Shirou?"

Shirou froze a little. He had completely forgotten that there would be others that would wonder at Shinji's disappearence. "Ah, Shinji is missing right now, so she's probably talking with her grandfather about that." He came up with something close to the truth fast.

Fuji-nee blinked, then frowned. "Shinji is missing? Right after that poor girl died? That feels like too much of a coincidence."

Right now Fuji-nee was taking her teacher persona. She was about as serious as she could be. "Ah." Shirou began to respond. "I doubt there's really any relation. I mean, he's just missing, it's not like he's dead. It's like something he would do, to get attention."

Fuji-nee did not remove her frown. "Still. I'll tell the principal tomorrow and see if we can look for him. Ah, that reminds me, we're still looking into the cause of the girls death, so there's no school today Shirou."

Shirou felt a pang of guilt at the reminder of his negligence. He took a look at Saber, who was looking at him with something like sympathy and calmed down. "I see. That actually works out for me, I can go and see how Sakura's doing."

Fuji-nee smiled and got lighthearted again. "That's great Shirou. The poor girl's been so busy lately she can't even come over. Tell her I said hi."

"Sure. And actually, she should be back here tomorrow." Shirou told her. Fuji-nee grinned. "Alright! Sakura-chan is getting close to beating you in cooking Shirou! That means more food!"

Shirou scowled and a chill went across his back as he was reminded that his kohai, who had not known what oil was when they started was now about to beat him in that area.

Saber merely tried to hide her eagerness. Fuji-nee soon left, telling him that she wouldn't need lunch again that day. He and Saber soon after left for the dojo to resume Shirou's training.

"You have learned well from me so far Shirou, although we have not had too much time to train. Actually, prana burst isn't something that you can really teach, because it is simply enhancing yourself with so much prana you become many times stronger." Saber complimented Shirou.

Shirou blushed, looking down. "Well, I don't have nearly as much prana as you do Saber, so I can't use it nearly as well. Well, reiryoku."

Saber nodded. "Yes, that is true but you have your entire life to build your reserves up. Reiryoku is not like prana, you can build your reserves up. Back to today's training; today I will simply have you build your experience up. I want to get you used to being in life threatening situation's."

Shirou smiled, something he had been doing a lot since Saber had come into his life, and summoned Zangetsu. Zangetsu sighed at Shirou, though Shirou didn't notice. It was just like him to not notice that when he was with Saber, he was happier than he had ever been.

-He who walks with death, hand in hand-

Caster pulled out a strange dagger that looked as if it would easily break, but was easily cut down by Archer. As Caster's body began to fade, Rin frowned. That was much too easy. Caster had already seemed off when she had gotten there, and if the corpse on the ground was her master, they had already been attacked. She wondered by who however, as Caster was left alive.

Rin's thoughts took her to Shirou. It seemed like something he might do with his character, leave the servant alive while killing the master. Then again, Shirou wasn't that stupid. _'He might be a threat though. If it was him, maybe he left Caster alive on purpose.'_

Archer thought differently from Rin. _'No matter what version of myself it is, he would be stupid enough to do something like kill the master and leave the servant alive. He would have taken her though. I don't think it was this world's Shirou.'_

Archer had accepted the fact that this worlds Shirou wasn't him. Besides the way that the grail war was progressing, it was his weapon, his powers. Something in the way he looked...

Archer cursed as head pains assaulted him. That had been happening a lot lately. His eyes flashed as he saw the image of a woman reaching out. This time, he also seemed to catch words flying through his mind. _-ch- -s-ki-_

Rin noticed her servant staring into space. "Archer?"

Archer quickly snapped out of it. "Just wondering who would kill the master but leave the servant alive. I was thinking that Emiya kid. Seems in his character."

Rin shook her head. "No, he isn't the type."

Archer wondered at that. The sheer idea that any teenage version of himself wouldn't do something stupid like that was mind boggling.

"Anyway, let's go Archer. That's enough for today." Rin told him, turning around and walking away.

Archer followed her, turning into a spirit. _'Even if this isn't me, it would be best to kill this version anyway before his ideals crush him.'_

-He who walks with death, hand in hand-

Shirou was slammed into the ground, gasping for breath. Above him stood Saber, having barely broken a sweat. Shirou could not believe how strong she was. He was like an insect in comparison to her. That was why he had to get stronger. If he was going to be a hero, he needed to be at least as strong as Saber.

"Let's take a break Shirou." Saber told him, putting away her sword. That was one of Shirou's bigger issues. Even if he got used to Saber's fighting style, it was incredibly hard to fight someone who's weapon you could not see. Shirou supposed that's why servants are heroes; even in the face of an useable weapon they could still fight almost perfectly.

"N-no. I can still go on." Shirou said, leaning on Zangetsu and panting. Saber pushed him a little. Shirou fell on his back. "Okay. I think rest would be good."

Saber looked pleased. He was learning.

She went ahead and sat down next to him as he sat up, regaining his breath. Shirou closed his eyes, thinking about the fight, and about the sword that caused him such trouble.

"Say, Saber." Shirou got her attention. "You know, as King Arthur you would think that your sword would be Excalibur. So why is.." Shirou trailed off.

Saber did not seem to mind answering. "I am something of a well known servant Shirou, so servants would recognize me just by the sight of my sword if I did not keep it encased in Invisible Air, my sheath."

Shirou made an ahh of understanding. "But why haven't you unsealed it at all so far? I mean, we have fought some really strong servants."

Saber looked at him. "There is no need master. Zangetsu allows you to fight above a normal human, and your Getsuga Tensho could be dangerous even to a servant if caught off guard, as Heracles was. Besides that, my Noble Phantasm damages the earth a lot, so if I used it someone might figure out about the war. As such, it is a last resort."

Shirou nodded. His Getsuga Tensho did damage the earth, but not so much that someone might find out about the war just from that. Shirou decided to change the subject to something else he had been wondering about.

"By the way Saber. I meant to ask, if you liked what I cook. If you want, I can make some more Western food, if you're not used to Eastern yet." Shirou asked her. His face was very serious, as the question was even more important than the first he had asked.

Saber's face blushed by an amount Shirou did not see. "Ah. No, I like your cooking Shirou, there is no need to change to satisfy my needs."

Shirou pressed on. "But still, if I knew what you liked, the quality of my food might get better. There must be somethings you don't like, or some things that you like better than others."

Saber's face turned awestruck. "You mean the quality of your food could get better if I helped you?" She breathed out.

Shirou nodded. Saber stood, well, sat, at attention. "Question me as much as you like Shirou. I am ready." She had the cutest serious face on, enough so that Shirou got a small blush on his face. Trying to clear his head, he coughed a little, then started.

"Well, alright then. Let's start with this: do you like vegetables?" Shirou asked her, ready to take mental notes.

Saber nodded. "Yes, they are good nutrition to build your body up, important. You also cook them very well."

Shirou made a mental note. He had figured she would say something like that. "Alright then. How do you like meat then? I don't make it too often, but I could start to make more if you like."

Saber said, "Yes, I like meat a lot. But you don't need to make it more often than you do, as all your food is excellent."

Shirou made another mental note. She seemed to like meat anyway, so he would at least try to make it a little more often. "Alright, well how about fish?"

"Fish is very good, I really like the way you make it." Saber responded.

Shirou started to get a feeling. "Saber, are there any foods that you don't like?"

Saber shook her head. "No, I like everything Shirou makes." Saber got a blush thinking about the meals Shirou had made her. At first she had just humored him, eating, as she got enough power from the contract that she didn't need food. Then she had tasted his food and decided to humor him a little longer. It wouldn't do for her master to get upset and unfocused because she wouldn't eat his food after all.

Shirou felt his feeling get confirmed. "Ah I see. Well, how did they make food where you come from?"

Saber looked down sadly and shook her head. This alone spoke volumes for Shirou. Then he started to sweat. If Saber looked forward to every meal, then he could not afford to let the quality of his meals go down. If Saber got angry because her meals weren't good...

Shirou shuddered just trying to imagine it.

"Okay then." Shirou tried to distract her. "How about some lunch then. I need to go out for some ingredients, so lets go out and see what we can find."

Saber nodded eagerly. She quickly stood and walked for the door, waiting for Shirou to follow her. Shirou knew he had to follow her.

**Some time later**

Shirou and Saber had just about finished. Shirou was set to make lunch as soon as they got home. Then he saw something good. "Hold up a second Saber."

When he came back, he had an extra bag of something that smelled good. "What is that Shirou?" Saber asked, getting a little hungry. Well, hungrier.

"Come on, let's sit at the park a bit and share it." Shirou told her, smiling and leading her. The park was full of normal kid stuff, swings, a slide, a sandbox. It was deserted for some reason. Perhaps because it was still school time.

_'Oh, wait.'_ Shirou thought. There was one person there. A little girl with silver hair. Wait...

Shirou and Saber both froze and got ready to bolt to a bigger place. "Onii-san!" Ilyasviel cried with delight as she went up to him.

Saber dropped the groceries, carefully mind you, and was about to put her armor on when Ilya stopped her, saying: "Don't worry Saber, I'm not here to fight. It's still daytime after all. Unless, you want to fight..." Ilya trailed off.

Saber stopped. She didn't want to fight in broad daylight either. "Then what are you here for Ilya." Shirou voiced the question in his mind. Ilya giggled at him.

"To play of course, Onii-san. I get very tired of that castle you know." Ilya told him, a bright smile on her face. Shirou had a hard time equating her to the master that had tried to kill him a few days ago.

"By the way, what's your name, Onii-san." Ilya asked him, tilting her head.

"Emiya Shirou." Shirou responded to her. Ilya frowned.

"Emiyashirou?" She asked. Shirou shook his head.

"No, don't worry, you can just call me Shirou. That's my name." Shirou told her.

Beside him, Saber looked to have calmed down a bit, though she was still tense and on her guard. She clearly did not expect this to happen, or for Ilyasviel to be courteous.

"Shirou. Yes, I like that name. Simply, but good somehow." Ilya said, smiling.

"How about we talk Onii-san, I have a lot I wanted to ask you you know." Ilya told Shirou and Saber. Saber and Shirou both hesitated. "Ara?" asked Ilya, tilting her head. Her eyes had changed, become dangerous like that night.

"You don't like me?" she asked. Although Shirou and Saber could take her, they decided to err on the side of caution. A fight at this time of day would not be good. Not to mention if she called Berserker out, there was no telling what she would do.

They both agreed to talk for a while and sat down at a bench. "Oh." Shirou suddenly remembered. He rummaged through the bad he had gotten, and grabbed pastries that were shaped like fish. "Here Saber, Ilya. It's daro-yaki." Saber seemed delighted, momentarily forgetting about the situation.

Ilya grabbed it a little more shyly. When she bit into it however, her face lit up. Shirou, Saber and Ilya all finished their snack quickly.

"So what did you want to talk about Ilya?" Shirou asked her as they finished eating. Ilya shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't really talk to other people much." She told him. She shivered a bit.

Shirou blinked. "Are you cold Ilya?" It was a bit cold that day.

Ilya nodded. "Yeah. I don't really like the cold, even though I'm used to it. I like snow though, my daddy told me that it was white just like it."

Saber's mind melted a little. The girl was so cute when she wasn't trying to kill them. Inwardly she frowned a little however. What she had just said made her think of something. Ilya reminded her about something, but she couldn't quite place what.

"I got my hair from my mommy. It's really the only thing that's girly about me." she told him brightly.

Shirou nodded. Saber remained silent as she had throughout the conversation. "Your dad was clever. Your hair is very beautiful."

"Right! What about you Shirou? Did your parents leave you anything?" she asked him.

Shirou thought about it, remembering the woman from the fire. His mother. He could just recall that she had the same hair color as him.

"Well, I get my hair color from my mother too I think. I also got my last name from my pops. And my house I guess." Shirou said. He scratched the back of his head, trying to think a little deeper.

Ilya got an odd look on her face. "Your mother? So your father and she are both-"

Shirou cut her off. "No, my mother died in the fire ten years ago. My father, Emiya Kiritsugu found and saved me during the fire. I took on his last name."

Ilya went back to her normal expression. "Oh? Not your father's magic crest though?"

Shirou shook his head. "Then how are you a master? I thought that you needed a crest to be a master." Ilya looked confused.

Shirou shook his head. "No, I'm just a normal amateur magus." He ignored that he was lying about being a magus. It was okay telling Sakura because he trusted her, but he wasn't about to tell a potential enemy.

Ilya giggled. "Hardly an amateur magus. That mystic code of yours is really something, to take three of my Berserker's lives." She almost shuddered thinking back to that day. She was convinced that there would not be a repeat however.

Suddenly, Ilya stood. "Berserker's woken up." She disappeared before Saber or he could stop her.

For a moment, Saber and he just sat there, then they both stood. Shirou looked at Saber. "What just happened?"

"I'm not too sure. I believe we just had a pleasant conversation with Ilyasviel. Do not get too comfortable however Shirou. She is the enemy, and she will not hesitate to kill us." She responded back. With that ominous warning, they both headed back home.

**At home**

Shirou sighed as he finished his meal. Besides him, Saber also sighed as she finished her fourth serving. He stood to gather the plates and begin to brew some after meal tea. It was time he and Saber talked about what they would do when they went to Sakura's home to talk about an alliance with her grandfather.

A few minutes later, Saber and he started to sip at their tea. Shirou put his cup down.

"It's almost time to go talk with Sakura's grandfather." he commented to her. Saber knew he meant to talk about their plan. She also put her cup down and gave him her attention.

"I trust Sakura. She wouldn't do anything to us. I don't know her grandfather though, so I can't say whether or not he will do anything." he told her. Saber nodded, thinking.

"I believe it would be best to be on guard and ready to fight as soon as we get there. I do not believe he would notice if I kept Invisible Air out, so I will keep it ready to fight." Saber told him.

Shirou nodded, thinking. "If we do get their help, it would undoubtedly be a good thing."

"You mean with Ilyasviel and Berserker." Saber said. She frowned, thinking on that days events. Ilya reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite remember.

"Yeah. I had practically forgotten about her. I'm not too sure how I could forget about someone as terrifying as Berserker, but today was a wake up call for me." Shirou admitted.

"Rider was strong when we fought her. Now that she has a better master, I assume she will be stronger." Shirou said. Saber shook her head.

"I do not believe so. Shinji would not have supplied her with the proper prana as he was not a magus. It is more likely that Rider was still receiving prana from Sakura." Saber told him.

They talked for a while longer, then Saber told him she was going to go take a bath to rest a little before the time to go to Sakura's house came. Shirou nodded.

**A few minutes later**

Shirou entered the bath after Saber was done using it. He had trained hard and he smelled a little, although Ilya nor Saber had said anything. It would be good to soak his muscles and relax a little before he might have to fight.

Shirou took his bath slowly. Soon, he was done, and as he was standing to dry himself and dress-

Shirou froze as Saber suddenly opened the door, coming inside. Saber froze and blushed a deep crimson as she saw Shirou's state.

"S-sa-saber!" He yelped out. He fell backwards, trying to cover his private area, asking "What are you doing in her!?"

"I-i'm deeply sorry master. I forgot my towel, you didn't tell me that you were going to take a bath. I didn't know you would be in here." Saber stuttered out. Neither noticed how this was an almost perfect reversal of what Shirou had done a few days ago.

Saber quickly backed out and ran away. Shirou, still blushing, dried himself and dressed as quickly as he could. He wondered why his heart was pounding, and why the idea that Saber had seen him naked appealed to him so much.

Coming out of the bathroom, he caught sight of Saber, awkwardly standing and waiting for him to finish. He looked down as he saw her, she did the same. Saber opened her mouth to apologize once again when they both froze as they heard the doorbell. It was time. In light of the situation, they both grew a little more serious.

They would put this incident behind them, and perhaps talk about it later. Right now it was time.

-End Chapter 7-

**AN: And there you have it. You can be assured that the next chapter won't take nearly as long as this one. Actually, I'm very ashamed of how long this chapter took. It is also about my regular length, which must be a disappointment, as you must have though, "He took a month, it must be long."**

**I admit, I am weak. I spent 40 hours playing Pokemon Black 2 that I could have spent working on this chapter. I am deeply sorry about that.**

**NIX'S WARDEN helped me a lot with my writer's block, from such long pauses between writing this chapter. Once again, thank's man, I appreciate it.**

**Rest assured that next chapter will not, I repeat not, take a month to come out. It should be out by next Friday, 11/09/2012. Maybe a day later or earlier, but that's what I expect. I'm going back to once a week chapter's after some very long pauses. Progress will be on my profile as it always has been, even during this break.**

**For all of you who haven't notice, there is a poll on my profile for my next story. I will be writing the sequel to this story next, but I meant the poll to be more of a, simultaneously written story. Or, story after sequel. So this break thing doesn't leave you without anything from me, should I ever need to do it again for some odd reason.**

**Look forward to the next chapter.**

**Ja ne!**


	8. True Nature

He Who Protects the Living

**AN: Well, aren't you glad to see me back in a week again? I was really glad too, I hated having to make all of you wait for more than a month for a relatively short chapter. Wasn't that popular either it seems.**

**The poll in my profile is still up, will be until Chapter 9. Not that urgent really. It is there however, anyone who hasn't gone should go and take a look, though it seems pretty much decided.**

**Not much to say really. I feel as if I should have a lot to say, but I got nothing. I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

**Fun Fact: The chapter titles are probably the hardest part of writing.**

**Disclaimer: I know some people wonder about these. Fanfiction does provide disclaimer's for us, we don't technically need them, but we use them because back in the 90's before , when you posted fanfics on blogs or whatever you used to post 'em, those sites did not provide disclaimers. It's pretty much habit, but it helps I guess. To make sure.**

**I own nothing. Not Fate/Stay Night, Type-Moon, Bleach, or any other anime/manga/LN/VN/etc. that I will reference in this story.**

_Last Time: Coming out of the bathroom, he caught sight of Saber, awkwardly standing and waiting for him to finish. He looked down as he saw her, she did the same. Saber opened her mouth to apologize once again when they both froze as they heard the doorbell. It was time. In light of the situation, they both grew a little more serious._

_They would put this incident behind them, and perhaps talk about it later. Right now it was time._

Chapter 8: True Nature

**An Unknown Location**

An old man sat down while two lines of people in black kimono's and white hakama's stood in front of him. Some of them seemed bored, like they didn't want to be here, some looked quite serious, and others indifferent.

"We have recently received souls from a part of the world of the living that no one could recognize." The old man started. This got everyone's attention. An unknown part of the world of the living? Was that even possible?

"I have researched into this place, as the co-ordinates should not exist. I cannot find any mention of the place." The old man continued. Some of the figures shook their heads in confusion. They had been to the world of the living an uncountable number of times, to all over the world, and a place that none of them had been to before sounded so odd.

"There is something going on in this place, and it worries me that no one seems to know this it. Souls have come from a place that should not exist, co-ordinates that are unknown to us. I wish for shinigami to be sent to where this place is supposed to be, and investigate if this is a flaw in our system, which is unlikely, or if it is a place where something sinister goes on." The old man told them all.

"Soifon." The old man called out. A young woman with braided hair responded. She had a very hard and serious look on her face. "Hai, Soutaicho!"

"I want you to send your Onmitsukido to investigate this place. Send them to where this place should be, and have them report back what they find. I want this investigation done fast." The old man, the Soutaicho demanded of her.

"Hai!" Responded the woman. The old man nodded. "Dismissed."

-I have experienced, true fear-

Shirou readied himself mentally as he and Saber walked down to meet Sakura. He had no idea what might happen when he and Saber met Zouken. He had never met Sakura's grandfather, but as he was a magus, it was entirely possible that he might be leading them into an attack. Shirou did not believe that Sakura would do something like that, so he has to conclude that she knew nothing.

If he was walking into a trap, he would be clueless to it. Shirou didn't care much however. If he was walking into a trap, he would just beat Zouken. It never occurred to him that he might lose in a confrontation with Zouken.

He and and Saber put on their shoes and opened the door. The sight of purple hair met their vision. Shirou blinked. He had expected Rider to be with Sakura, but he couldn't see her. Saber also noticed, and kept herself on guard. Even if this was a meeting for an alliance, Rider would become an enemy later. It was entirely possible that Rider would not listen to her master and attack them.

Sakura greeted her senpai a little more enthusiastically. "Hello senpai, Saber-san. My grandfather is expecting you two." Her smile dimmed a little when she mentioned her grandfather, but neither Saber or Shirou noticed as her smile grew back at the thought that she might be fighting with Shirou soon.

"Alright Sakura. Let's go." Shirou told her, getting straight to the point. Saber nodded beside him. Shirou locked the door up quickly, then started walking. He had been to Sakura's house once back in the very short time that he was friends with Shinji. He knew the way.

Behind him, Saber stood between him and Sakura, who was trailing behind. Sakura tried to strike up some conversation with Saber. "Senpai isn't scowling."

Saber looked back at her confused. "Shirou scowling? I do not believe that he does that often."

Sakura nodded, looking down a little. "Yes. Ever since you arrived Saber-san, senpai has seemed much happier. He smiles so much, when he never used to. From what Fujimura-sensei tells me, he started scowling all the time when his father Kiritsugu died. He just wasn't very happy. He usually only smiles fake smiles when the day Kiritsugu died comes."

Saber blinked in surprise. Shirou had just seemed so normal. He had never given an indication of what Sakura was saying. Actually, now that she thought about it, back in that first night, wasn't Shirou scowling a lot?

"Actually, now that you mention it, I do seem to recall Shirou scowling a lot when I first met him. Why do you think it is that he now seems happier?" Saber asked her. Her thoughts grew to the war, and she wondered if perhaps her master enjoyed the thrill of battle more than she suspected.

Sakura sighed at Saber's obliviousness. She had really been wrong that first night, she had still had a chance back then. They had clearly liked each other back then, but Sakura could have still tried to steal him back. It was too late now though. The way Saber and Shirou looked at each other, even now.

Trust. They trusted each other. Even with Rider possibly an enemy and at Shirou's back, he showed no discomfort because Saber was at his back. They didn't need to speak to each other to get points across. Sakura wondered how it was possible for two people to grow so close in a matter of days. It didn't seem feasible, that two people could learn to trust each other, to grow so close in just days. It was like Saber and Shirou were made for each other.

"It's you Saber-san. Shirou is happy because he is with you." Sakura tried to tell her. It would hurt her, helping Saber to get Shirou. But she wanted her senpai to be happy so much. And anyway, there was no way senpai would ever want someone as dirty as her. With a body that lusted so.

They were now coming up to the Matou house. Saber was confused by Sakura's words. "I do not understand." Saber told Sakura.

"Why would-" Saber was cut off as all three of them, Shirou, Saber and Sakura felt something off. They were now in front of the house. There appeared to be nothing wrong from the outside, but there was a bad sense coming out of it.

"Shirou." Saber told him. He needed nothing more than that, as he summoned Zangetsu in a flurry of reishi. Saber summoned her armor to herself, readying herself.

Besides Sakura, Rider also appeared. "Master, there is a servant inside your house."

Sakura nodded. "Senpai-" she began. Shirou shook his head. "Stay out here Sakura. I and Saber will go in and see what is going on. Rider, protect Sakura."

Rider almost hissed at him. How dare a lowly god of death try to order her around!? But it was what she would have done anyway, and so she held her tongue. Her master would not be happy if she expressed distaste for this one. Rider simply nodded stiffly at Shirou, who started into the house with Saber.

_'Senpai.'_ Sakura wished for his safety. She stood watching the door where Shirou had gone for a while. She thought about what he might be facing in there and shuddered. She couldn't leave him alone. She had to go. She started walking. Rider blocked her immediately.

"Sakura, where do you think you're going?" Rider demanded of her. Sakura shook her head. "I have to go Rider. I can't let senpai fight alone. If he's fighting grandfather, grandfather will kill him. I wouldn't put it past him to tell me to offer an alliance but want to kill him instead."

Rider still wouldn't move. "Rider!" Sakura almost screamed at her. "Why do you care about that _shinigami_," Rider almost spat out the word, "so much? He doesn't care about you Sakura. He can take care of himself, leave him be."

Sakura shook her head again. "I will use my command seal if I have to Rider. Move. I'm going. With or without you." Rider sighed. When she wanted to, her master was quite stubborn. "We will follow behind and only interfere if they are in trouble." Rider told Sakura. Sakura quickly agreed.

If worse came to worse, she would try to leave Rider behind to save senpai. She could at least do that much. It was at that moment, that the house started shaking. Rider spun, crouching low in front of Sakura, as the house began to collapse.

It had only been a few minutes since Shirou and Saber had gone in. An ominous feeling filled the air.

-I have experienced, true fear-

Shirou and Saber ran inside. There was a feeling of weight and danger surrounding them. Shirou felt his hand burn. It was a servant. "A servant. Sakura's grandfather's?" Shirou asked Saber.

"I do not think so. If so, he would have waited to ambush us. I believe someone is attacking him at this moment. I can feel it; this servant is strong." Saber responded. Shirou nodded and continued walking. Sakura's house was dark and did not feel very homely. It had an ominous look about it. There was no light inside.

Shirou's nose then gave him a whiff of something. Death. Rot. Decay. Power. Shirou followed the scent, silently telling Saber to follow behind him. They quickly made their way, and soon found an opening, to what seemed like a hidden room. It looked like it was forcibly made open. Shirou and Saber exchanged a glance.

Saber went in first. Shirou did not argue, though he desperately wanted to. It would do no good argue here and be found out. Soon, they saw inside the room. It was dark, and filled with the scent of rot and decay. Saber looked on with disgust, and Shirou almost wanted to barf.

Inside, they started to hear the sounds of someone arguing. Hiding and looking down, they saw a mutilated body on the ground. In front of the body, was an ancient looking man with a chain on his chest, screaming at a younger looking man in golden armor. The golden armor wearing man had blond hair, cube earring's, and had the disposition of a noble. He had an arrogant look on his face, looking down at the chained old man.

"Why are you here!? Who's servant are you!?" The old man did not seem concerned that he was almost clearly dead. He seemed more concerned with figuring out who the golden man was.

The golden man looked at him in disgust. "Be silent you mongrel worm. How dare a worm talk to his better like he can actually demand answers. Be grateful I only kill your mortal shell and I don't obliterate your pathetic existence as well."

The old man shook with rage. The golden man was uncaring, and instead looked up. Shirou felt a chill as he saw the man's eyes. He was strong, terribly strong. "How long are you worms going to try and hide?"

Beside Shirou, Saber had a look of shock on her face. _'Archer! But how!?'_ She recognized this man. He was one that she had fought in the previous grail war. She had never been able to figure out his identity, and he infuriated her.

Saber knew there was no more point in hiding when he called them out. She stood, Shirou following her from behind. "Archer! How is this possible, how are you still alive?"

The golden man, Archer, smiled when he saw her. "Ah, Saber! It is you, my woman. How do you recognize me I wonder? It does not matter." He looked at her like he owned her.

Beside Saber, Shirou shook. _'His woman? Why do I feel so angry? I've never felt such fury before.'_ Shirou felt his body heat up in anger. He didn't know why Archer's words infuriated him so, but he wanted to go down there and wipe that look on his face.

Saber shook in anger. Shirou was distracted, and looked at Saber in surprise. He had never seen her lose her composure before. "I am not your woman Archer! I refused you quite clearly."

The golden Archer sighed. "I see. But that just makes me want you even more, my beautiful King of Knights." At this he smiled indulgently, as if he allowed her to have the title. "Just come. I can give you anything you want in the world, any jewel or weapon. I can make you experience the greatest of pleasures."

Shirou was disgusted. "She already said no Goldie." He couldn't help himself from this reply, although Saber looked at him with warning on her face. "Why don't you go and run back to your master."

The golden Archer looked at him as if he had just noticed him. He frowned in distaste. "A shinigami. What do you want, death god." The golden Archer looked at the old man, who was staying silent and watching. He hadn't moved, as if sensing that he would be wiped out of existence if he tried to escape.

"Ah, have you come for this worm? Hurry up then, take him and get out of here." The golden Archer talked to him dismissively. Like he was ordering Shirou to hurry up and leave. Shirou and Saber both stared in surprise. He knew about shinigami? And he could see the plus of Zouken.

"Well, what are you waiting for shinigami? If you don't hurry up I'll make you leave." The golden Archer told him, looking extremely annoyed. Shirou looked at him with hard eyes.

"I'm Saber's master. We came here to meet with Zouken. Why do you know about Shinigami?" Shirou spoke to him harshly. The golden Archer looked at him for a moment, then started to laugh.

Laughing in delight, he made out, "A shinigami a master? How delightful! So, is this the reason why you won't be mine Saber? You believe this man is better because he is a false god?" The golden Archer stopped laughing.

"Well then, I suppose I'll just have to make you mine Saber. But not right now, I have things to do, somewhere to be. Await me patiently Saber." The man told her, turning. Shirou would have none of that. With a yell, Shirou shot forward in a flash of black, Zangetsu poised at the man's head.

"Master!" Saber shouted in alarm, also shooting forward to follow. She couldn't believe Shirou had just shot forward like that. He didn't know how dangerous this man was.

The golden Archer merely looked annoyed. With a snap of his fingers, a the air behind him turned to gold. In an instant, dozens of weapons shot at Shirou. Eyes widening in alarm, Shirou was not able to turn as he was still on his step. Quickly, he put Zangetsu in front of him to defend. Then he was pushed harshly away by Saber. Saber and Shirou collapsed in a heap as the weapons impacted the floor.

If Rin's red Archer shot like a machine gun, this golden Archer shot like a missile. Each of his weapons made a large crater on the ground, and caused the house to shake. Only now did Shirou notice these craters were in addition to ones left behind Zouken's mutilated corpse.

"Saber." Shirou breathed. "Are all of those..." Shirou did not need a response. His mind automatically stored the appearance of the many weapons, all of them being recorded in his mind, though Shirou himself was not aware of this happening.

Those weapons gave off a feeling that could not be mistaken. They were all Noble Phantasms. But such an absurd number of them! Just who was this servant!?

The golden Archer kept a smirk on his face as he saw them avoid his weapons. Behind him, the hilts of many more began to jut out of the golden air. "You're not a very strong shinigami are you? If you could not even avoid my weak assault. Please, keep on scurrying about like a rat, it is quite amusing."

"Shirou." Saber breathed to him. "This isn't the time to fight this servant. I don't know how he is still alive, he was in the Fourth Holy Grail War. He is terrifyingly strong."

Shirou did not listen to her. All he could see was the man's smirk. The possessive look in his eyes when he saw Saber. Shirou moved Saber out of the way and started to channel his reiatsu at Zangetsu. Before Saber and the golden Archer's eyes, Zangetsu split in two and changed. Where before Zangetsu had been a large cleaver, now it was a pair of chinese curved swords closely resembling Rin's Archer's weapons.

Saber readied herself as well behind Shirou. If her foolish master was going to fight, she would make sure he wouldn't die. Shirou blasted forward with a battle cry. The golden Archer had a slightly interested look on his face. Once more, behind Goldie, dozens of weapons shot out like missiles.

All manners of weapons. Spears, swords, arrows, kusari-gama, naginata, more! Shirou's arms blurred as he channeled his reiatsu at them. The black lightning of the prana burst that Saber had 'taught' him – whichh he should really rename, as he didn't posses any prana whatsoever – appeared on his arms as they blurred, knocking blades out of the way. Saber's arms also blurred as her invisible weapon also knocked them away.

The golden Archer did not seem to be worried in the least however. Shirou could tell. He was toying with them. He didn't see them as a deadly force coming to take his life. The thought that he could die was simply inconceivable to him. He was having fun.

Shirou channeled even more reiatsu into his swords. "Getsuga-" Shirou began as he leaped up, blades following him. "Tensho!" Together, his two swords glowed black and shot forward two crescents of blue that knocked the weapons out of the way. As they approached Archer, they combined to form one single greater attack.

The attack hit an unmoving Archer, and a large explosion rocked the room. As they were inside a house, it was shaking as the strong attack hit. The walls began to crumble. Smoke obscured Shirou and Saber's view, but the barrage of weapons did stop.

As the smoke began to clear however, Shirou's eyes widened in horror as he saw the golden Archer standing there, not so much as a scratch or a smudge of dirt anywhere on him. He had let the attack hit him. His face was set in a little bit of disappointment.

"You really are a very weak shinigami. They let shinigami as weak as you out of the Soul Society? Well, I suppose times have changed. You always have the most interesting zanpakutou however." At this, the Archer looked at Zangetsu with the same possessive look he had given Saber.

"Tell me, do you mind if I add it to my collection?" The golden Archer seemed to inquire, his tone suggesting an order. Shirou saw red. To demand of him a part of his very soul!? In his mind, laughter, crazed laughter ran out. He felt anger. He felt blood lust.

Saber looked at her master with worry. She felt something off through her connection with him. Why was he so angry? Surely, this golden Archer was infuriating, but to such an extent that he would lose his cool like this?

Shirou's eyes, unnoticed to all but the Archer, began to take on a yellow hue. The golden Archer watched, interested. Shirou shot forward, even faster then before, catching both Saber and the Archer off guard. The golden Archer held his hands up to protect his face as a barrage of slashes met his body. They did nothing. Not so much as a scratch appeared on the golden Archer's armor.

Shirou's anger grew more and more, and white started to form at the corner of his face. Behind the golden Archer and Shirou, Saber was shaking as a hollow energy began to flow to her thru her and Shirou's connection. Her armor slowly started to turn black, and she could hear a voice in her head. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Shirou once again shouted his attack. "Getsuga Tensho!" His voice came out as warbled. It sounded like two people were speaking at once. Another twin pair of crescents came at Archer, this time no different from before save for a tinge of black on them.

They did nothing to Archer.

Archer was annoyed. Although Shirou's strikes were beginning to get stronger, they felt like love taps to him. How dare such a weak false god think he could attack him? Archer jumped back, the first time he was made to move during this 'fight,' and snapped his fingers.

In an instant, chains shot out of nowhere and enveloped Shirou. Shirou's face stopped turning white, as he desperately struggled to get out of these bonds. Saber behind him also stopped convulsing, as the flow of hollow feeling energy stopped flowing to her. What small parts of her armor had turned black turned silver again.

The house was beginning to collapse. The powerful attacks had started a fire behind the golden Archer with the annoyed look. The walls were crumbling. The golden Archer tisked in annoyance.

"What manner of beast are you?" He asked Shirou, who was coming back to his senses. Shirou did not respond. The man sighed with annoyance and looked at Saber who was panting from the intrusion into her body. "We'll meet again my King of Knights. You have a slightly interesting master."

The golden Archer disappeared. Zouken, who had not said or done anything since Shirou and Saber had revealed themselves was gone. Saber stood as debris fell on their heads. She looked at the chains still present, and destroyed them quickly in a series of slashes. "Master, we have to go!"

Shirou was unresponsive, and still looked a little dazed. Saber almost growled in annoyance. She grabbed her master and slung him over his shoulder. She ran as the ceiling caved on the hidden basement, crushing a multitude of insect familiars that had stayed away from the battle and must have belonged to Zouken.

-I have experienced, true fear-

"Senpai!" screamed out Sakura. "Rider, let's go."

Rider sighed, but nodded her head. Hurriedly, they both charged in to the slowly crumbling house. This must have been a battle between servants, for the large house to collapse like it was. Not too far inside, they came across Saber, who was carrying Shirou on her back.

"Sakura-san!" cried out Saber as she saw them. Rider understood this wasn't the time to fight. The four of them made their way out of the house, an old ghost left behind.

**Outside of the house**

Shirou slowly came to. He opened his eyes, and they met the darkness of the night sky. He felt his head on something soft. It was a familiar feeling. Forgetting for the moment that he had just fought in a life or death battle and almost died, he burrowed his head into the somehow familiar warmth. A gasp made his head shoot up as he looked at the red faced Saber, who's lap he had had his head layed on.

"S-s-saber!" Shirou cried out, falling backwards only to impact on someone else. Turning his head, he met the almost imperceptibly sad looking Sakura, who had her face reddened by Shirou burrowing his head into Saber's lap, and an unimpressed looking Rider.

Paling now, he tripped and fell sideways. A little dazed now, his ears met the soft laughter of Saber. He looked at her surprised. It was the very first time he had heard her laugh. Soon though, he started to laugh as well. The absurdity of the situation was starting to hit him.

He had not thought that there would be a hard battle to be fought except for Berserker and Ilya, and his meeting with Ilya earlier had almost made him underestimate even that threat. But that golden Archer...

He was just too strong. What kind of Heroic Spirit possessed dozens of Noble Phantasms? What kind of person was he, that all of Shirou's best attacks did nothing to him? That Saber had not even been able to get close because she was too busy trying to keep Shirou from being killed, and almost failed at that anyway?

The idea that he might die in this war, that Saber could die and leave him alone had not particularly crossed his mind. He had contemplated it for perhaps a few seconds at most but had dismissed it, as even a human like him could at least hold off these servants. After that battle, he was certain that even the ferocious Berserker would lose to that golden Archer.

He was interrupted of his inward thoughts and outward laughter when a rasping sound met his ears. Alarmed, he jumped up from his sitting position in unison with Saber. Sakura did not seem concerned though, and instead she seemed confused by why Saber and Shirou had reacted like that. Rider seemed like she had heard the sound though, as she was on guard as well.

"So, you survived that servant." The sound was of an old man. Looking, Shirou saw the plus of Matou Zouken. Zouken seemed unconcerned by Shirou and Saber.

"That golden Archer, he came into my home and attacked me." The man continued. Saber felt a chill go down her spine. She did not trust this man. Her every sense told her to kill him as an abomination. As something evil and wrong.

"You, you are the man that I sought to meet this night; Emiya Shirou." Zouken said, looking at Shirou. This was the first time Shirou was meeting Zouken. He was a frail old man that looked as if he could not stand or walk without help, but he sent shivers through Shirou. Shirou felt as if even though he had come to talk to this man to get his help, he just couldn't work with him.

But he was dead. And he seemed completely unconcerned at the fact. Shirou eyed him carefully.

Zouken ignored this. "So, that servant, he called you a shinigami. I must admit, although I have heard vague mentions of them, even I have never actually seen one. Tell me, what does one such as you do here in Fuyuki citu?"

Another person that somehow knew what a shinigami was. Shirou was a little confounded. Weren't shinigami supposed to be completely unknown to the world of the living? He could understand the golden Archer at least, he came from the Throne of Souls and might have even met them before.

Shirou did not answer him, as he didn't really know how. He was a shinigami, but he was born one. He had never been to the Soul Society, and he had never met any others of his kind.

Saber whispered to him. "Be careful Shirou. This man, he gives me a very bad feeling."

Shirou didn't listen to her however. He was dead anyway, a soul. What could Zouken possibly do to him? He walked forward, drawing his sword. Sakura asked him what he was doing behind him. Saber stepped forward with Shirou.

"There's no real reason to answer your questions old man. Just know, you no longer have to concern yourself with this place. Your going somewhere better, to the Soul Society." Shirou spoke, raising his sword, hilt glowing white. Caught of guard by this response, which he had completely not expected, Zouken had enough time to say, "What?" before his head was touched.

The ground immediately shook. A crack formed on the ground, and Sakura, who could not see anything cried out in surprise. Saber and Shirou shot each other a look. They had both seen this image before. Just what kind of a family did Sakura have?

Zouken was now looking about in alarm as a giant ominous gate arose from the ground. Chains rattled as the door opened, and laughter ran out. Zouken lunged at Shirou, as if to take him with him, but was pierced from behind by a giant blade. Zouken had no chance for anything but to yell and curse as he was sucked into hell.

"Senpai, what's going on?" Sakura demanded of him as the ground stopped shaking. Shirou sighed and turned to her. He couldn't just leave her without an explanation, and she was without a home or family now. She would need him now.

"Sakura, I told you I am a shinigami. Your grandfather's dead Sakura, I passed him on to the next life just now." He told her bluntly. Sakura shook and tears fell out of her eyes. Shirou was sure they were tears of sadness or anger, so he was surprised when Sakura shakingly said, "I-i'm free?"

-End Chapter 8-

**AN: Yeah, a lot shorter than usual. Why? I'm not too sure myself. I just kinda lost my thunder and couldn't get it back.**

**My FTC Robotics team made second place in City this weekend. We're moving on to state. After that, I just got lazy after all my hard work, and didn't really work on anything. This is about where I had it on Friday, when I was supposed to post this, and I just kinda lost it.**

**I'll get chapter 9 out sooner I guess, since this chapter was so short. And it might be longer than usual. Things like this happen. I could have kept on going, but trust me it would have taken forever. Once my ideas run short like this, I need a new spark of inspiration.**

**I'm thinking next chapter goes out on Sunday. Poll will close by then. Status updates are on my profile as usual, though, I guess they've been kinda unreliable, since real life screws me over so much.**

**Ja ne!**


	9. Stay With Me

He Who Protects the Living

**AN: Wow. You have no idea what I had to get through to be here. Like, really, you have no idea. I could go off on a tangent about all of the stuff that has kept this chapter from coming out for so long, but chances are none of you care.**

**Sorry to the people who PM'ed me recently and got no response back. I was pretty ashamed that this chapter was so...you know. Late. Especially after my last somewhat embarrassing chapter. Now that this chapter is up, I'll PM all of you back.**

**Thanks to everyone who was so patient with me about this chapter. It was a wild ride, and hopefully how fast Chapter 10 comes out will determine how my updates will look from now on. Some of you may have vague memories of a time where I had time to update semi-regularly. I'm hoping I can go back to that someday.**

**Well, enjoy this chapter that has kept you all waiting for so long. Hopefully.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fate/Stay Night, or Bleach, or anything else from anything I may or may not reference in any way, shape, or form.**

_Last time: "Sakura, I told you I am a shinigami. Your grandfather's dead Sakura, I passed him on to the next life just now." He told her bluntly. Sakura shook and tears fell out of her eyes. Shirou was sure they were tears of sadness or anger, so he was surprised when Sakura shakingly said, "I-i'm free?"_

Chapter 9: Stay With Me

The air began to distort, and then to slowly shine. A waver ran through the air, unnoticed, as a pair of shoji doors appeared and opened. From the blinding light came a young woman, wearing a shihakusho, and a haori with the kanji for two on the back over it. She was followed by a rather large man with a large purple collar, and an old fashioned hair style. Behind them followed more people, dressed like ninja.

As the young woman began to observe her surroundings, the shoji doors behind them closed, and a large, hollow shriek filled the air. Immediately on guard, the squad saw a bunch of hollow fighting each other, trying to get past..thin air?

_'No', _she thought. _'I feel, a presence. Beyond that invisible wall, there is a huge reiatsu. It feels different. Not hollow, nor shinigami.'_

Soifon had been sent to check if there was anything here, anything unusual going on. Hollow trying to do something so bizarre as this, instead of going to a populated city to feed was quite strange.

Regardless of what the hollow were trying to do, or the strange reiatsu, the young woman ran into battle with her squad. A sense of confusion filled her as even more hollow showed up and they began to cut them down, all trying to get at the source of this large reiatsu.

-I refuse to conform!-

Shirou stared at Sakura blankly, trying to process what she had just said. She was free? Out of all the things that Shirou had expected Sakura to say, perhaps express her anger to him on killing all of her family, or her immense sadness, it was happiness and gratitude?

Both Shirou and Saber stared somewhat bewildered as the girl fell crying onto Shirou's chest. Shirou wasn't exactly sure what to do in such a situation, but hugged her close and allowed her to cry to herself. Sakura eventually became limp as she fell asleep in his arms.

Shirou looked up from her, to find Rider staring with distaste, and Saber looking with an odd expression that he couldn't quite place. Slowly, he grabbed Sakura and started walking back home, confident that Saber and Rider would follow him.

From not too far away, two pairs of eyes stared as Rider, Saber, and Shirou with Sakura in his arms walked away. Rin frowned in the same distaste Rider had shown. She didn't really like Shirou carrying Sakura in his arms like that. Beside her, Archer had his arms crossed, a disinterested look on his face.

_'This Shirou is really nothing like me. This Grail War is already so different from mine, Zouken has been killed, so has Shinji. The more I look, the more I wonder if this Shirou even has the same ideals as me. Is it possible for there to be an Emiya Shirou that does not want to sacrifice himself for others?'_ Archer's thoughts betrayed his supposed disinterest.

"We'll come back later Archer. I want to be prepared, for when Emiya and I fight." Rin told him. Archer looked at Shirou, who had survived his fight with Gilgamesh. It surprised him that he would be strong enough to come out of a fight with the golden Archer so unscathed. This Shirou was much stronger than he could have ever been at this point without extenuating circumstances.

He could not say he could almost fight Servants as this Shirou from his own fight with the golden Archer. Granted, he had been holding back greatly against this Shirou, but a Servant like him, ten times stronger than a normal servant because of his innumerable Noble Phantasms, it was impressive.

"It would be unwise to fight against Emiya head on Rin. Berserker still lives, and that golden Archer was quite strong. Let them fight each other, and we can pick off the victor." Archer told her.

In another world where a stupidly kind man had mellowed out Rin from her absolute magus mentality, she might have disagreed with such an honor less plan.

-I refuse to conform!-

One final shriek filled the air. Panting soon replaced it as the weaker members of the young woman's squad took a rest. The young woman had naught a scratch on her, looking to where all of the hollow had tried to break in. She walked forward and placed a hand, but felt nothing. Walking a bit forward, she was shocked as her hand hit something. Pushing, she could not get through.

She took her sword out and slashed at the air, trying to get through. Nothing. Gritting her teeth, she summoned a blue ball in her hand and fired it at the air, only for it to disappear. Soifon blinked as she thought she heard something like, "My cabbages!"

Everyone now noticing what the woman was doing, the large man with the purple collar looked her way and said, "What's wrong Soifon-taicho?"

Giving up, Soifon looked back. "We're going back Omaeda. There doesn't seem to be any getting through this barrier, especially if the hollow couldn't. At the very least, we have confirmed that there is something here."

The large man, revealed as Omaeda groaned as he looked like he had just expended a lot of effort for nothing. Soifon quickly shot him a look that quickly shut him up. Soifon used her sword to create another set of shoji doors, entering with one last glance back as she wondered what was hidden behind that barrier.

-I will not conform!-

At Shirou's home, Shirou gently placed Sakura down in a spare room. He turned around to see Rider and Saber also taking a look to see how Sakura was. Shirou spoke up then. "Rider, do you know what Sakura meant when she said she was finally free? Free of what?"

Rider refused to tell him anything. "It is not my place to tell you anything _shinigami_. Should my master be happy to tell you when she wakes, that will be her choice. I am grateful for what you have done, but leave now. I will tend to my master."

Saber did not like the tone Rider had as she talked to Shirou. "Rider! We help you when my master has no ne-" Shirou cut Saber off before she could say more.

"It's alright Saber. Rider's right, and I would like to hear it from Sakura more anyway. Know this though Rider: Sakura is my sister in all but blood. Should anything happen to her while your guarding her..." Shirou left the threat unsaid.

Rider hissed at the very insinuation. "I will not have some _shinigami_ talk to me as if he can just order me around. I will protect my master with my life. I do not need you to tell me my duty as a Servant."

Shirou frowned. "What do you have against shinigami anyway? Why do you know we exist at all?" Rider hissed again at the memory.

"You _shinigami_! So arrogant, thinking you are entitled to everything! I have no reason to answer any of your questions!" Rider growled at him. Saber looked ready to complain once more, but a look from Shirou had her hold her tongue.

"I will await you in the living room Shirou." Saber had evidently had enough. Shirou wondered for a moment, that Saber would leave him alone with Rider when she did not seem friendly.

A warm feeling spread through his chest when he realized it must be trust. She trusted him to be okay on his own. And to call her if he needed her help. Shirou looked to Rider who also seemed a little surprised at Saber's abrupt disappearance. "Rider, I'm about to go make something to eat for dinner. Would you like anything?"

Rider seemed unnerved by the offer. She quickly declined and entered her spirit form. Shirou sighed, but left the room. A scowl made it's way onto his face, one of the first he had had ever since Saber had arrived as his Servant. Rider infuriated him somewhat.

He entered the living room, and saw Saber sitting down quietly, waiting for him. His scowl disappeared as quickly as it had come, although Shirou did not notice. "Anything special you would like to eat tonight Saber?"

Saber perked up instantly at the mention of food. "Anything you prepare would be delightful Shirou." Shirou had expected that, but still felt an odd feeling spread through his chest at her words. He wondered what it was as he idly scratched his chest. Ever since that gold Archer had called her his woman, he felt...different when he looked at Saber. Shirou dismissed the feeling as pains from his most recent battle.

Shirou quickly cooked something up, making sure to make some for Sakura as well. There was also one other person that would appreciate his cooking...

"SHIROUUUUUUUU!" Or, tiger, as it were. With all the commotion that had gone over that day, he had almost forgotten that he had talked with Fuji-nee just that morning about how school was out, and he was going to check on Sakura.

Shirou quickly brought the plates out to a hungry tiger and a silent lion. He marveled as they both devoured the food he had made. Albeit, in different ways. Fuji-nee was content to shovel everything down her throat without tasting anything, while Saber slowly destroyed everything on her plate, savoring every bite. He found himself staring at her a little, wondering how a petite girl like her could eat so much.

Fuji-nee, unfortunately noticed this. "Shirou, I see your staring at Saber again. Don't you get enough of her during the day?" Fuji-nee had a sly smile on her face as she said this. Shirou scowled deeply, looking at her with a slightly murderous look. Fuji-nee gulped slightly and sweat a little. Shirou did not notice how Fuji-nee had said, "Again."

Saber herself ignored the madness that had become slightly expected out of dinner. She interrupted both of them when she held up her plate to Shirou. "Seconds please." She asked of him.

Shirou forgot his anger momentarily as he served Saber food again with a small smile. Fuji-nee noticed once again. She was really on a roll that night. "So Saber, how has Shirou been treating you? Liking Japan so far?"

Saber looked up, blinking a little at being addressed. "Shirou has been a very kind host to me indeed. I do not know what I would have done had Shirou not been able to take me in. Japan is a country far different from my homeland, but I have enjoyed it immensely."

Fuji-nee knew that Shirou was not normally so kind to strangers. "Is that so now?" She looked over at Shirou who was looking at her suspiciously. "I'm glad your acting of a manner befitting of what I taught you Shirou." She looked quite proud at having used such a big word like 'befitting.' It was a little sad when you realized she was a teacher that taught teenagers.

"Yeah. Right." Shirou said somewhat sarcastically.

"Anyway, Shirou, what happened with your trip to Sakura's today? Is she feeling alright what with the disappearance of her brother and all?" Fuji-nee asked him.

Shirou was relieved she had changed the subject. Fate couldn't hate him all the time. "She was doing pretty good. Actually, her grandfather had to go away for awhile, so she will be staying with us until he comes back. She's in one of the guest rooms right now, resting."

Fuji-nee grinned at this. "My Shirou, was Saber not enough for you? Now your sinking you claws into poor little Sakura as well?"

Shirou grew red. He was not sure if it was because of anger, embarrassment or both. Fuji-nee took this as a sign she should get going before he got even more angry. "Right then Shirou, I'll be going now. Take care of Sakura now, don't make me an Aunt too soon."

The tiger quickly fled. Saber looked at Shirou inquisitively. "Shirou, what did she mean by-" Shirou cut her off as he had been doing a lot lately. "It's nothing Saber. Just Fuji-nee being Fuji-nee."

Saber looked slightly unconvinced. She still had food left though, so she ignored it.

**A little while later**

Saber sighed happily as she finished eating. Shirou quickly gathered the plates up. When he came back, he had a serious look on his face. "Saber, we need to talk about what happened today."

Saber quickly grew more serious as well. Shirou started. "That Servant today. That golden Archer, what's his deal? You said he fought in the last Grail War?"

Saber nodded. "Archer is a terribly strong opponent. As were most of the Servants from the last Grail War. We never could figure out Archer's identity. All I know is that he has a huge amount of Noble Phantasms. And that he wants me to be his wife." You could hear Saber's immense distaste at her last statement.

At the reminder of what the golden Archer had said, Shirou was once again consumed with anger. _'How dare that Archer call Saber like she's his possession!?'_ Shirou began to hear laughter in his head, which brought him out of his angry state. Startled, he looked around for the source of the laughter. Saber looked at him with some concern.

"Shirou, is something wrong?" She asked him. Shirou flushed a little. "Nothing Saber. Actually, Saber, you look a lot more annoyed at that Archer than just because he wants you to be his wife."

Saber flinched as she remembered a night where she had drunk with kings. "He just...brings back some memories. He and another once mocked the wish I have for the Holy Grail."

Shirou was surprised that Saber would admit something like that. It seemed that day was just full of surprises. "What is your wish anyway Saber? You've never told me."

Saber looked at Shirou slightly coldly. It was a look she had never given him before, and he opened his mouth to apologize and tell her there was no need to answer, but she beat him to it. Her expression softened and she nodded.

"I trust you Shirou." Saber spoke to him. He felt that odd feeling again. He thought back to when he had talked with Rider, and his thoughts when Saber had left him to her on his own. "My wish." Saber continued. "My wish is to save my country from ruin."

It took Shirou a few moments to absorb those words. Slowly, he started to talk. "Saber, you mean..." Saber nodded seriously. "My dear Britain was brought to ruin because of my weakness. Had another taken the throne, taken the sword from the stone rather than I, my dear Britain would have survived."

Shirou frowned. "But Saber, Britain has survived. Even today, it's still here, still alive."

Saber shook her head. "Though the landmass is there, I failed my people. My people died, and I could not protect them. That is why, even if changing the past is a miracle that none can make come to life, if this omnipotent wishing device can, I will wish someone more suited to the throne had taken it."

Shirou grew pale as he thought more about what exactly that meant. "But Saber, if you wish someone else had taken the throne, doesn't that mean that you-"

Saber interrupted him. "That is right, I will have not become a Heroic Spirit." The world seemed to crash down on Shirou. He felt like he was choking, though he made no sound. _'If Saber never becomes a Heroic Spirit, that means I will never know Saber. Saber, I will forget her because she will be lost in history.'_

Shirou's vision took a red hue. "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Saber was startled, but grew angry at his words. "Shirou, I told you such a thing in trust, and you spit on my wish so! You know nothing of what it is as a king, you know nothing of the suffering my people went through when I let them down!"

"Saber, erasing your own existence, spitting on the men that followed you into battle! Erasing the past just like that! Can't you see that if you erase the past that you built with your people, the battles you have fought, the feelings you shared with them will all be meaningless!" Shirou yelled at her. He forgot that Sakura was in the same house, could possibly hear them yelling at each other.

That struck Saber hard, as she remembered similar words from another man. "My life is meaningless if I could not protect my people Shirou! My entire body, mind, and soul are devoted to my country! I would gladly die for them, gladly sacrifice my existence for them!" Saber shot back.

"Your life isn't so meaningless for you to just throw it all away Saber! Your people may have died, maybe your Britain fell, but your life had meaning! Britain still lives to this day, a proud country! You still matter, even now! To me!" Shirou shouted at her, unable to stay his anger.

Saber refused to acknowledge his words. She tried to speak, but was cut off as Shirou grabbed her and held her tightly to him. She felt her face grow red and her breath came out in gasps as she felt his arms encircle her. "You still matter to me Saber." She looked up at Shirou, as he spoke now very softly at her.

Shirou had a passionate look on his face that she could not place. She felt an almost painful sensation in her chest as he stared at her so intently. "Shirou!" She gasped out.

Shirou could not believe what he was doing, just knowing that it felt right. Slowly, his head lowered to Sabers. Saber gasped and raised her head as well. She could not understand the feeling she had in her chest, the feeling Shirou was giving her.

She should have been fighting with him, still trying to get him to see her point of view, but...

Their lips met with force, as Shirou assaulted her mouth roughly. She whimpered as lightning spread throughout her body. Shirou grabbed her even more closely as he too felt a sensation like no other flow through his body. Saber's soft lips on his, her whimpers cause him to enter a state of euphoria.

To those two, it was as if the entire world had disappeared at that moment, nothing existed except for themselves. Nothing but the feeling that they were complete filled their bodies. Saber struggled to get out of Shirou's grasp, even as her mind shivered and demanded more of her.

Shirou now understood what he felt. The odd feeling he had gotten all day, ever since the golden Archer had claimed Saber was his. The feeling of possessiveness he had felt in the form of anger. He was in love with Saber. Perhaps from the moment he had seen Saber, he had been in love with her.

He remembered how she was summoned, and the wonder he had felt as he saw the beautiful girl. The sense of completeness he had felt when he had seen her. The Holy Grail summoned those most compatible with the master if no catalyst was used. The Grail had outdone itself this time.

Saber shivered as Shirou's lips assaulted her own. Slowly, she let herself be claimed by the man in front of her. Shirou released her moments later, gasping for breath. He looked at her with such intense lidded eyes she could do nothing but stare right back. She stood still and said nothing as a wonderful feeling overcame her. She felt, complete. She tried desperately to contain those feelings, and succeeded somewhat.

"Shirou." Saber's mouth whispered without her consent. Shirou took that as a good sign and captured her lips once more, slower this time. He was trying to send his feelings for her through the kiss. Shirou could feel his heart fluttering as he kissed the beautiful blonde. With her in his arms, the entire world just seemed...right.

Away from Shirou and Saber, another pair of eyes looked at the pair painfully. Shirou really should have realized that he could have woken Sakura up with his yells. Sakura painfully stared at the two who were showing each other how much they had come to care for one another.

_'It's not fair. I've known Shirou all my life and he hasn't noticed me, but Saber-san comes for just a few days and she gets his heart.'_ Sakura was close to tears as she saw Saber begin to grab Shirou's head and hold his hair as she accepted his feelings.

Sakura motioned to Rider to go. She didn't want to stay anymore. She appreciated everything her senpai had done for her, but she couldn't handle seeing him with Saber. Absorbed in their own world, Saber and Shirou didn't notice Sakura leave with Rider.

-I will not conform!-

Shirou felt himself enter his inner world, but didn't quite realize it. "Ichigo, you look happy. What happened?" He vaguely heard Zangetsu ask him. He did not respond. He could feel his face turn red as he remembered what he did in the spur of the moment. Really, he had really not expected that to happen.

Zangetsu sighed. Ichigo was in his own little world at the moment. "In light of the circumstances, I will forgive tonight's training Ichigo. Go to sleep, we'll meet tomorrow."

Shirou barely heard himself mutter out some kind of reply as his world grew dark. Zangetsu remained standing, looking at the sky.

A hollow laugh came behind him, but he ignored it with a practiced ease. **"You can't protect him forever Zangetsu. It was inevitable that King would fall to me from the moment that he saw his mother die in front of him."**

"I will not allow it." Spoke Zangetsu. "Shirou doesn't need you hollow. He is strong enough with me."

More crazed laughter ran out through the area. **"Have you seen the fights he has gotten into!? Servants, those monstrously strong heroes of the past, he will not survive with you alone."**

"I will make sure that he survives. He holds great power, almost all of it still untapped." Zangetsu spoke more strongly.

"**HAHAHAHA! This war won't last long Zangetsu! Even now the boy's anger leads him to me. Soon, I will become the rightful King!"**

With those chilling last words, Zangetsu was plunged into silence. _'Survive Shirou. Become as strong as you can, so you can overcome that...thing.'_

-I will not conform!-

That night, Shirou dreamt of Arturia. He marveled at all that he saw. He saw her fight, and listened to how the people would say things behind her back. They would say that she was too different from normal people, that she could not understand them.

As one who was blessed with eternal youth, she had lost sense of emotions. He grew angry at thinking that anyone would treat his Saber that way. He watched her sacrifice so much, taking all the hopes of her men into herself.

She was all alone, and it pained him so much. But she wouldn't be alone now. Even if he could not convince her to get rid of her stupid wish, he would never leave her now. She was one of the only things he had left to love in this world.

-I will not conform!-

Saber also had a dream, much as she had been having much of lately. The same green scenery she had been seeing. She blushed as she slowly thought to what she had been doing before this. _'Shirou...'_

Shirou had been so, aggressive. When he had kissed her, she had gotten the most wonderful feeling...

She was not alone as she had been in these last few dreams though. **"I see you have become a little less foolish, King."**

Startled, she spun to see that black reflection of herself. It gave her a cold smile with no feeling in return. **"Make sure that you become less and less foolish my King. Else I will make sure to do it for you."**

Saber shivered as she heard the things voice for the first time. She would have tried to reply, but found herself falling. Falling...

**In the morning**

The light fell on Shirou's eyes, making him open them. He slowly blinked his sleep away, noting that he was much warmer than normally was. He tried to move, but a weight on his arm stopped him. Looking down, he saw a curtain of blonde hair. Saber. The events from last night went through his mind, and he almost gasped in horror, realizing the implications of Saber being in his bed.

He relaxed though, when he saw that they were both fully clothed. They had not changed from the clothing they had had on last night. He remembered as he had grabbed Saber, and then, he had...Shirou's face got red. He didn't think he could be so bold, but Saber had just made him so mad.

He and Saber had kissed until they were both panting and breathless, and he had carried her up to his room. They had done nothing but stare at each other until they had fallen asleep. The body in his arms stirred. He looked down with affection at Saber who blinked as she saw Shirou.

"Shirou, why am I in your futon?" She asked him, slowly getting up. Then, last nights memories started to go through her mind and her face turned red. She tried to get up in a hurry, but Shirou held her close and did not let go.

"Shirou, last night, you-" Saber was cut off as Shirou kissed her slowly. Her struggles disappeared and she sighed into the kiss. After a few moments, Shirou let go. She stared into his eyes, and shook her head slightly. "Shirou, last night, why..."

Saber trailed off. Shirou held her tighter. "Because I'm in love with you." Saber shook. "Shirou, I've told you before, I'm a weapon, a tool, I'm a king, I'm not a woman. There is no man that would want a body like this one, and I cannot-" Shirou kissed her again. _'I can really get used to this.'_ He mused to himself.

Saber looked at him. He looked back warmly. "Please Saber. Give up your wish. For me." Tears leaked out of Saber's eyes. "I can't Shirou." Shirou's happy expression dulled. Then his face set itself in determination. "Then I guess I'll just have to convince you to give up on it."

Shirou bent down and Saber closed her eyes. It took a little while for them to leave the bed.

**Later**

Shirou and Saber sat down to start eating. They had barely begun when they heard the customary, "SHIROUUUUU!" Fuji-nee flew into the room. She stood at the doorway, proud of her entrance, but Shirou and Saber ignore her in favor of eating. Fuji-nee face faulted, rivers of tears going down her face as she cried about Shirou and Saber ignoring her.

As she finally got up though, she blinked and looked around like she was forgetting something. "Shirou, didn't you say Sakura was staying with you? Where is she?"

Shirou blinked at that, and quickly stood to go check on her. What with everything with Saber, he had forgotten that Sakura was staying with them. Normally, she would have already been up long ago to help or make breakfast. As he came up to the room he had left her in, an ominous and foreboding feeling began to fill his body.

He quickly opened the door to her room, and gasped as he saw an empty bed. He left the room and ran around the house trying to find her. Soon, Saber heard him running around and left her meal behind, Fujimura going after her in concern.

Saber came across him opening doors and looking desperately around. Shirou turned and saw Fuji-nee and Saber. "She's gone!" He gasped out. "I can't find Sakura!" Saber's eyes widened, and she and Fuji-nee began to search desperately for Sakura.

Some time later, all of them sat at the living room, in slight despair. "Shirou!" Growled out Fuji-nee. "How could you just lose Sakura like that!" Shirou growled right back. "It's not like I meant to lose her! How was I supposed to know that she was going to run away!"

"Her brother is missing and her grandfather left for some reason out of the blue! You just expect her to be alright after that!" Fujimura asked him as she butted heads with Shirou.

"Well I didn't exactly see you showing that much concern for her last night!" Shirou growled right back, pushing her away with his forehead.

Then, a large force forced their heads down to the ground. "ITAI!" Was Shirou and Fuji-nee's combined shout of pain. Shirou looked up at Saber betrayed, but she meet his gaze with her own cool one.

"This was both of yours' fault!" Saber yelled at them. They both calmed down. "Stop acting like children, we're not going to get anything done if you two are fighting like that!"

Saber calmed down a little. "Come, we will look for Sakura-san right now. Shirou and I will search the city, Taiga, you search the residential district."

Both nodded quickly. Fuji-nee stood and ran out the door first, a quick "I'm going!" left behind.

Now alone, Shirou and Saber looked at each other, similar looks on each of their faces. "You don't think Sakura was attacked by an enemy Servant?" Shirou asked Saber, somewhat afraid.

Saber shook her head. "No, your Bounded Field would have detected the intrusion. Well, Caster is left, so a Servant like that could have destroyed the field without our notice, but there is no reason for Caster to leave us alive. The same for Assassin. Besides, we were so distracted last night that..." Saber trailed off, her face slightly red.

Shirou's own face colored a little, but he shook it off. It was important that they find Sakura at the moment. "Right. It would be a good idea to look on Ryudou Temple. Shinji did say there was a Servant up there, that will be a good starting point."

Saber agreed and they both shot out the door.

On the road now, Saber looked at Shirou while they ran. "I may have said it before, but there is a Bounded Field around the Ryudou Temple that does not allow spirits to pass anywhere but the front without repercussions. The kind that would affect even me."

Shirou nodded and took that into consideration. "I'll go first then, cover my back." Saber nodded. They were at the temple in minutes. Without hesitation, they both shot up the mountain steps. They encountered no resistance as they both came across the entrance to the temple.

Giving each other a pair of quick nods, they shot inside.

-I will not conform!-

**Unknown location**

An old man was troubled. Soifon had actually found something suspicious. He had wished that she not find anything, for it to be one of the few errors that their system had made. A barrier that erased the memories of the people who knew what was inside was dangerous.

He had no way of telling if it was a threat to them or not. There was something inside. Something strong. Slowly, he walked. He would have to employ a certain man to try and find what was going on. They needed a way inside that thing.

-End Chapter 9-

**AN: Who else expected that to happen? I must admit, I certainly didn't. It just kinda, you know happened. I was kinda imagining Sakura telling Shirou about her past, but Sakura fainted on me, and before I knew it, Saber and Shirou were making out.**

**In case it wasn't clear enough, Saber and Shirou did not have sex. I felt that it wouldn't have really happened, as it usually happened with a lot more cause in the game.**

**Sakura also running away, I kinda didn't see that coming. Man, it's almost like this chapter wrote itself. You know, after I finally had the time to sit down and say, "Chapter! You will be written!"**

**This chapter was still smaller than the norm for me, and I apologize for that. I feel that I could have kept on going a little, but this chapter was overdue anyway. Didn't want to keep you all waiting longer.**

**The next chapter will be longer. Pinky swear.**

**I give no promises as to when the next chapter will be out. My promises usually aren't that trustworthy nowadays. Hopefully, very soon. At the very least, not in another two months. Definitely not, like ever again. I can at least swear on that. Well, nice seeing you all again.**

**Oh, by the way. The poll. Looks like I'm definitely writing the sequel to this story after it's done. If I decide to do two at once, the other one will be the Harry Potter idea.**

**Ja ne!**


	10. Monsters are Everywhere

He Who Protects the Living

**AN: I did say that this would come sooner didn't I? Too bad that it didn't take a couple of days, but I still see this as an accomplishment compared to before. A lot of you thought that Urahara was the one that Yamamoto was going to ask for help. I may not have explicitly stated it, but I figured it would be obvious as I keep talking about the sequel.**

**This story takes place before Bleach canon. The sequel will take place during Bleach. This means that Urahara is still a criminal. As in, Yamamoto would never ask him. That's also kinda assuming that he knows where he is, which, I think he might, but still. Urahara equals wanted criminal you know.**

**As for this chapter, still not much happening, but I personally think it's an improvement on the last chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, for all of you being so patient with me.**

**IMPORTANT************************************************************************

**Sorry this was still late, but a little better than two months anyway. Please read the AN at the end of the chapter, it is quite important.**

**IMPORTANT************************************************************************

**Here's chapter 10.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night, Bleach, and any other book, anime, manga, etc. that I may or may not reference in any way, shape, or form.**

_Last time:An old man was troubled. Soifon had actually found something suspicious. He had wished that she not find anything, for it to be one of the few errors that their system had made. A barrier that erased the memories of the people who knew what was inside was dangerous._

_He had no way of telling if it was a threat to them or not. There was something inside. Something strong. Slowly, he walked. He would have to employ a certain man to try and find what was going on. They needed a way inside that thing._

Chapter 10: Monsters are Everywhere

Ryudou Temple was large, with a huge stone staircase leading up to it. It had a lake behind it, and many monks living in it. There was a forest surrounding the temple, and there was also a Bounded Field strong enough to weaken even a Servant, if they did not enter through the main entrance.

Almost immediately after entering, Shirou and Saber found themselves stopped by a sign forbidding entry. Shirou looked at it, deeply concerned. Actually, now that he thought about it, didn't Issei live on Ryudou Temple? This was pretty suspicious. Shirou was pretty much convinced there had to be a Servant here, if the place was like this.

Needing no words, Shirou and Saber went past the sign, both of their guards up. It was a rule to not fight in broad daylight, so as to not let ordinary people know of the existence of magecraft, but if this was the lair of a Servant...

Shirou and Saber searched as thoroughly as they could. It was a rather large place, so it took them a while. It was while they were looking, that Shirou smelled something strange. "Wait, Saber." Saber stopped beside him, looking around suspiciously. Shirou sniffed the air. That was the scent of blood, an unforgettable smell after all that he had been through.

They slowly walked, until they found a spot on the floor covered with dried blood. Saber squatted down to take a look. "This mark is only about a day or two old. Whatever was here was here recently. That boy you killed, Shinji wasn't it? I do not believe that he would have said something false to us in light of the circumstance he was in. He seemed too much of a coward." Saber stated to Shirou, looking at the ground.

Shirou finished her train of thought. "So it is possible that someone got to the Servant here before we did." Saber nodded. "It is equally possible that the Servant escaped however. I feel uneasy that we don't know which, but something was seriously wounded here."

They both agreed to take a look at the lake behind the temple, the only place they hadn't looked yet. Making the trek over there, they were disappointed to not find anything there. The lake was quite pretty however.

Saber was reminded of another lake as she stood there with Shirou at her side. She felt warmth blossom in her chest as she thought of Shirou at her side. With him beside her, she felt complete. Her face slowly reddened as she thought that. Soon enough, her mind went back to the night before, when Shirou had kissed her with such passion, she had-

She abruptly started walking away. "Come Shirou, we waste time by staying here. We need to find Sakura." Shirou blinked at her abrupt exit. He jogged up to her, noticing her red face.

"Hey, you okay Saber? You're all red. Hey, can Servants get sick?" he asked her, grabbing her and holding his forehead on hers to check her temperature. "Hmm, you don't seem like you have a fever. Do you have a cold maybe?"

Saber was reduced to a slightly stuttering mess as Shirou's face was so close to hers. Just like last night...As if sensing Saber's thoughts, Shirou looked at the face of the woman he loved, he lowered his head to hers and...

Saber escaped out of his grasp furiously. "Come master!" Shirou stood dumbfounded for a moment, but smiled. That was the Saber he had fallen in love with. Then he realized what she had called him. "Hey, Saber I told you not to call me master anymore!"

-No one else-

It was at the bottom of the the hill that Saber's stomach growled fiercely, reminding both of them that they had barely had time to take a few bites of their food before they had left the house that morning. Saber's face, which had just turned back to normal began to redden a little once more.

Shirou laughed, but then his stomach joined Saber's. "Well, hunger's the enemy, right?" Shirou asked Saber, an embarrassed look on his face. Saber quickly recovered from her own embarrassment. Saber nodded sagely.

"Yes Shirou. Hunger is the enemy at the moment. It would not be wise to continue on while our stomach's hinder our strength." Saber said, her face lightening at the thought of food. "Looks like we're going back home for now Shirou."

Shirou quickly grabbed her arm, a devious plan in his head. "No Saber, I think we could do something a little better today. The breakfast I made is probably cold by now, so..."

Shirou took Saber to a small cafe near his school. He went there sometimes, when he didn't feel like cooking because Sakura and Fuji-nee both had things to do. Or simply when he felt like a cup of coffee, which wasn't very often.

Shirou felt a little embarrassed though, as it was the first time he had gone with a girl. Let alone Saber. He took a peek at her, to see her looking at the place with interest. She had not eaten while with Irisviel and Kiritsugu, as Kiritsugu provided all the prana she needed. And in her time, she had obviously not been to any sort of place as this, as they had not yet existed.

Of course, the grail provided all information that she would need about the current time, so she knew of such establishments. It was however, different knowing about it, and seeing it with her own two eyes. It was somewhat like knowing the ocean existed, and actually seeing it. The experience was quite different.

They found an empty table quickly, the place wasn't quite so full. It wasn't quite morning after searching through the Ryudou temple, but it wasn't lunch yet either. Soon, a cute blonde waitress came to take their orders. She blushed a bit when she saw Shirou. Neither Saber nor Shirou noticed.

"Emiya-san, I haven't seen you in a while." She told Shirou happily, a little subtly looking him over. She usually took Shirou's orders when he came here, as she found him attractive. Most people thought that he dyed his hair that shade of orange, and so also thought that he was a delinquent.

The fact that some local gangs sometimes got into fights with him occasionally, and he always beat them up thoroughly, somewhat cemented this opinion. This waitress was attracted to him even more by this however. She thought that she could try and fix him.

Shirou smiled politely at her. There was no reason not too after all. "Hello there Yuzuhara-san. I've been quite busy lately, so I haven't had the time to come over. This is Saber, Saber, this is Yuzuhara Rei. She works here, and is nice enough to join me in conversation occasionally."

Yuzuhara noticeably strained her smile when she saw Saber. "I see. Is this your girlfriend Shirou?" Saber did not notice.

"Ah, no. She was a friend of my father, and had some business in Japan. She didn't know that he had died though, so I let her stay here. I'm trying to convince her to stay longer, but she isn't really listening to me." Shirou said all of this with a smile on his face that stunned Suzuhara. She had never seen his face like that.

She glared at at Saber while Shirou was distractedly looking at the same person with a gently smile. "I see. Well, if she can't stay she can't stay. Now what would you like?" She said this looking at Shirou.

Shirou ordered for the both of them. Suzuhara was stunned as she heard the huge order, and asked Shirou to repeat himself. As he did, her mind did a little twirl. No guy would like a girl that ate that much, right? As Suzuhara walked away, swaying her hips a little more than necessary, Shirou and Saber started talking a little mindlessly.

In just a few minutes, Suzuhara came back with their order. First, she placed the food. Just as she started to place the coffee however, she tripped her own foot and spilled some on Shirou. "Oh my!"

Shirou stood hissing as the coffee burned him. Saber also stood, hurrying over and checking to see if he was okay. Suzuhara did not allow her to mind over Shirou much though. She took out a small rag out of a pocket on her uniform, and started drying Shirou.

"I'm so so so sorry Emiya-san! I don't know what happened, I just tripped and then-" Suzuhara was cut off by Shirou, who had a new scowl on his face. "It's alright, it's alright. Accidents happen."

Suzuhara felt Shirou's chest as she dabbed at it with her towel and blushed. Saber noticed this time, and grabbed her own napkins and helped to dry Shirou down. Suzuhara was annoyed, but said nothing as Shirou might notice. Saber and she glared lightning as Shirou had his scowl on as people looked their way and started whispering.

"Let's just go Saber, I need a change of clothes. Sorry Suzuhara-san, here, the money for our meal." Shirou told her, starting to grab his wallet. Suzuhara panicked a little.

"No! I mean, I can get you a shirt Shirou, it's okay. Please, no need to pay, it's on the house. Just sit down Shirou and I'll take care of you." She told him fervently.

Saber was the one to speak next. "Actually, we are somewhat in a hurry, so we're sorry, but we'll be leaving now." Shirou nodded next to her, quickly thanked her for not making them pay, and headed out the door.

Suzuhara started cursing in her mind as she angrily cleaned up. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time too!

Outside, Shirou sighed looking down at his shirt. It was probably ruined now. "I don't know what was up with Suzuhara-san today. She's not usually like that."

Saber herself did not know what the feeling she got from Suzuhara was, but knew that it annoyed her. She hurried Shirou home, telling him that he would catch a cold if he stayed in that shirt.

Back in the cafe, a black haired magus sighed in relief as Shirou and Saber left. She lowered the menu she had been using as cover so they could not see her. She was quite surprised that neither of them had sensed her there. She had certainly sensed them. It was not the time to fight him though. Not only was he at full strength at the moment, she wasn't. Rin was not what anyone would call a morning person.

She stared at the table where Shirou and Saber had sat, wondering why Saber had seemed so affectionate to Shirou. It was weird. Servants and masters just did not have such a relationship like that.

She had really not expected Shirou to be at the place she sometimes went to grab a cup of coffee and wake up. She was lucky she had left Archer at home. He hadn't wanted to, but she needed her alone time too, and she wouldn't get it from Archer always standing behind her.

Though, she really should go back. She had left Archer, partly to get some alone time, but there was another reason. It really wouldn't do to keep her guest waiting on her. It couldn't be helped that she had had to leave her while she came to grab food, she really hadn't expected that person to come to her of all people to look for help.

But, she smiled. '_Tonight,'_ she decided. It was high time that she took care of one of the biggest threats in this war. Normally, she would have waited for him to go last, but now that _that_ person had come to her for help, she knew she had to do something soon. Her honor, her pride, and her old feelings demanded it.

-No one else-

Back at Shirou's home, Saber sat in his room while he finished cleansing himself. She still had an odd feeling from what that Suzuhara had done. She wondered what about her it was that unsettled her, but decided there were just some people you could not get along with.

She was interrupted from her train of thought when Shirou came in, dressed in just a towel. He did not, however, tell her to wait outside like he might have not two days ago. This pleased her. Her master was learning to trust her. Even as she had these thoughts, she did not notice her face reddening as she took in his almost naked body.

She also did not notice Shirou's pleased smile as he caught her staring at him. He would use any weapon to win this war, even his own body.

In a few minutes, Shirou was dressed and they were out again. Seemingly forgetting about their hunger, they searched desperately for hours, and did not stop until lunch time. They both felt defeated.

"Where could Sakura have gone? She couldn't have gone outside of Fuyuki, not while she's still Rider's master." Shirou asked Saber as they stood at a corner of the market district, watching the people pass by.

Saber held an uneasy look. "Master, do you think there may be a possibility that she could have gone to one of the other masters for protection? That she..." Saber did not finish her statement, but they both knew what she meant.

"NO!" Yelled out Shirou, startling a few of the passerby. "There is no way that Sakura would betray us!"

Saber backed down, not wanting to argue with her master, and also trusting his judgment. Still, at the back of her mind stayed an uneasy emotion, and she still wondered.

Shirou sighed. "We skipped breakfast, so let's go and get some lunch right now. I'd like to look all day, but if Sakura is really trying to hide, we won't be able to find her that easily."

Saber knew it was hard for her master to admit that. He held a look of frustration on his face, mixed with worry. She just could not understand why it was that Sakura-san had left like that. Nothing significant had happened the day before.

Deciding that it would be better to dine at home, partly for that morning's slightly disastrous attempt at eating out, and partly because of Shirou's frustration, which only cooking could help with, they found themselves at home once more.

Shirou went to do what he did best, and Saber sat down to wait.

It was as Shirou was setting plates out that Taiga came in, tired, and fell at the table, defeated. "SHIROUU! I couldn't find Sakura-chan anywhere! Where could she be!?" She moaned piteously at him. Shirou, who had still held some hope his Fuji-nee could find Sakura, sighed as well.

Saber, although she did not know Sakura well, knew that she was important to her master, also looked upset. She should have been able to find one girl. She felt like she had failed her master. Lunch was a quiet affair that day.

After lunch was said and done, Taiga began to speak to Shirou. "Well Shirou, it can't really be avoided. School is starting back up tomorrow. We still haven't found anything, but it's been out long enough as it is."

Shirou's infamous scowl found it's way onto his face, and as he started to open his mouth, Taiga continued. "So, I'll make sure to bring your homework every night. As long as you feed me of course!" At this she let out a small, hopeful smile.

Shirou and Saber both looked at her with matching looks of confusion. Close enough, that Taiga started laughing at them, wishing she had a camera. "Fuji-nee, what-"

She cut him off with a knowing smile. "I know you're not coming to school tomorrow Shirou. You're just that kind of guy, that won't stop looking for Sakura, even if you find out she's in another country by now. You'll keep looking for her, even if it takes your entire life."

Shirou's expression lightened up considerably, and he looked at his Fuji-nee with new found respect. She knew him better than he ever thought she had. Saber looked pleased as well, both because her master would not get in trouble for skipping school, and because now they had the entire day to devote to the Grail War and Shirou's training.

"You'd better not take forever though Shirou! I want both you and Sakura-chan to be back at school together as fast as possible!" Taiga added, with a tiger nod for emphasis.

Shirou's face settled in determination. "You got it Fuji-nee."

They talked idly for a while, and soon Fuji-nee left, presumably to get ready for the next day, when she would have to go back to teaching again.

After Fuji-nee had left, Shirou and Saber started trading blows in the dojo. Shirou still needed to train after all. Shirou was frustrated, and while most would have lost their minds and been worse off for it, his anger helped him in his training. He was hitting faster and harder than he did before, and with increased focus.

Saber was impressed. It was a great skill to not let your emotions take you over, and start to get sloppy on the battlefield. That was a quick way to die. Shirou however, focused and channeled that emotion. She herself had never had much problem with such a thing, as she had ignored her sense of self to be as a weapon for Britain.

Hours later, Shirou collapsed, breathing harder then he ever had before, with Saber, having barely broken a sweat on him, looked on with approval. Shirou was coming along nicely. Where it would have taken others years, Shirou absorbed everything she gave him like a sponge. She could not have asked for a better pupil.

Shirou sat up, breathing hard, to admire Saber as he caught his breath. He couldn't help but stare at how she had held him off so effortlessly, while he had struggled so much. She was so strong. He had to be stronger, had to get better, so he could protect her as well.

"Perhaps a shower now master?" Saber asked him, a small smile on her face. "You have gotten much better. It would take most years to master any kind of combat, yet you have stunned me in how you absorb everything I have to teach."

Shirou felt his ego grow a little, along with a small tinge of red on his cheeks. "It has to be because I have the best sensei possible for this." He then sniffed himself and cringed. Saber was right, he did need a shower.

Standing, he declared his intention to Saber, and let her know she could use it after him. Before he left, he grabbed Saber and left a kiss in thanks for his training. He deeply kissed her, feeling her, and showing her his love. Saber did not fight him, but also did not reciprocate.

Shirou felt his heart grow lighter as he caressed her face. This was a good enough reason to survive this war. He would not let her go. He would not let her go. He would not let her go. His heart wouldn't be able to take it if he did. Once, he may have decided that even if he loved her as much as he did, there were more important things, but even as his broken mind told him that, his heart would not let him.

He finally let go, and enjoyed her red face. He touched his forehead to hers, and let her. Standing stock still with her face red, Saber stood in that dojo for a while before she realized that Shirou was already gone.

-No one else-

It was at night, after dinner was done and Saber and Shirou were enjoying some after dinner tea when it happened. Fuji-nee had already left a while ago, and Shirou and Saber were just relaxing after the hard day. An almost warning signal flared in the back of Saber's mind, and before she knew it, she was flying towards Shirou, the reishi she was filled with as a result of the contract with Shirou flashing as her armor was summoned, that she grabbed Shirou and pushed him back.

Bewildered and slightly frightened at the extreme reaction, Shirou opened his mouth to tell her what the hell she had done that for, when the scent of metal filled his nose, and death rained. Arrows, dozens of them impacted and tore through the walls, landing where he would have been, had Saber not pushed him to the side.

_'Wait, those aren't arrows, they're -'_ Shirou thought, before he was stunned. Swords, twisted into corkscrew shapes, and shot just like arrows. Unbidden, the memories of the first night of the war filled his mind, where the arrows that had inspired Zangetsu to start his shape manipulation training with a bow had been shot at a monstrous figure.

"Man Emiya, I thought this base would be a lot better protected. What are you trying to pull, a magus like you leaving his home virtually unprotected except for an alarm bounded field?" came the familiar voice of a girl that he had once thought would be his partner in this war.

"Tohsaka!" Shirou exclaimed in shock. "Why are you here Tohsaka? Did you just-"

Rin cut him off angrily. "Drop the nice guy act already, it's unbefitting. I caught on to your act the first day of the war."

Shirou's anger quickly grew as well. "What the hell are you talking about!? Act! This isn't an act! Why the hell did you attack me!"

To Shirou's surprise, it was not Tohsaka that spoke, but Saber. "Shirou, you should have known from the first day that this woman is an enemy. She is also a master, and obviously, she has grown tired of your continued existance."

Tohsaka threw him a mocking smile, Archer appearing behind her, silent. Rin did not seem to notice Archer's lack of his usual sarcastic remarks. She was too angry, though for what reason Shirou was clueless.

"I would have waited to attack you, until every Servant was gone. But then, someone came to me asking for help, and I decided that the time was now." Rin told him, practically seething.

Shirou got a sinking feeling in his gut. "What are you-"

"Falling in love with a Servant, I never would have expected something like that. Then again, I suppose you wanted the strongest possible child to pass your magecraft on, and I suppose there isn't much better than a Heroic Spirit. Still, she won't last long enough to give birth you know." Rin told him, a fake smile on her face.

Shirou's world felt like it was crashing down, even as Saber beside him blushed as memories of Shirou's 'attack' on her the day before came to her mind.

"Where did you hear about-" Shirou getting cut off was starting to get old really fast.

"Really Emiya, are you really so slow? Sakura saw you seduce your Servant and came crying to me, asking me to take her in. Oh sure, she didn't want me to hurt you, she just couldn't stay in the same place that you were. But I just can't stand it, you giving up Sakura for this tramp." Rin revealed a crushing fact to Shirou.

Shirou found breathing a little hard. But why would Sakura leave just because she saw him and Saber together? It didn't make any sense to Shirou. One sentence really stood out to him. _'Sakura saw you seduce your Servant and came crying to me, asking me to take her in.'_

Shirou could not believe it. Sakura had run away because of him, and now she was with Tohsaka. Had he really driven one of his best friends away? His mind couldn't comprehend it.

Beside him, Saber bristled at being called a tramp. Although she normally would not have reacted to such an insult, as it was beneath her, for some reason, Tohsaka's words angered her immensely. She couldn't stand how this girl was talking about them.

"Watch your words girl. It is unwise of you to try and anger a Servant. Shirou." Saber spoke for the first time since Tohsaka had gotten there. Her last word a silent communication to Shirou, who nodded.

Shirou summoned Zangetsu and shot towards Tohsaka, who began to fire at him, her finger in the shape of a gun. Behind him, Saber had summoned Invisible Air, and had begun to combat Archer, who had also summoned a pair of twin swords.

Shirou t'sked in annoyance as he shot around Tohsaka's Gandr, and they began to destroy his house. "Do you know how long it's going to take to fix that!" He roared in annoyance.

"Please, you won't survive to have to worry about that." Rin told him, continuing to fire at him, slightly enjoying seeing him dance around. Archer was still silent, engaging Saber as hard as he could, but he seemed to not put his heart into it.

"What is wrong Archer? Are your swords so weak that you can't fight back?" Asked Saber, a slight smirk on her face. Archer was slightly taken aback. Memories of his own Saber came to his mind. Although his Saber had liked to partake in banter every once in a while, she seemed different. Something in the way she fought, not quite the hard weapon striking at the enemy, but one enjoying herself.

There were still remnants, and Saber was not _that_ different, but it was noticeable, and he couldn't help his eye's split second wandering to find Shirou, who was getting close to Rin. Without a second thought, he retreated for a moment, throwing Kanshou and Bakuya to the sides and instantly summoning another pair.

Shirou, who had gotten uncomfortably close to Tohsaka, was taken completely by surprise when a pair of swords came out of nowhere. He managed to deflect one, just in time for Kanshou to find his stomach. His mouth opened and he gasped out a spray of blood. Blood dripped down his clothes, making Tohsaka smile a little.

Saber, who could not have done more than wonder why on Gaia Archer would throw his swords away like that, watched in horror as her master proved unable to completely block the assault. "Master!" A desperate cry ran out as Shirou fell to his knees. Archer almost seemed to show some emotion at this, standing uncomfortably, and not attacking.

Rin seemed happy with the result. She took a jewel out, prepared to take Shirou's head, when a hollow laugh began to fill the room. "Hehehe, hahahah, HAHAHAHAHA!"

Shirou's head, which had been bowed in defeat only a moment before, shot up, revealing to the world that a quarter of his face had been overtaken by a hard white substance, and his eyes had turned to a sickly yellow. Saber's mind flashed to when they had fought with Gilgamesh. Even as it did, she started to feel odd, as new power began to enter her.

"Master, what-" Saber was interrupted as Shirou tore Kanshou from his stomach, blood spraying a horrified looking Rin, and stood, grabbing Zangetsu.

"**I knew King couldn't do anything without me! I knew it! He's not strong enough! To be taken down so easily by such weaklings, I am the rightful owner of this body! Me! HAHAHAHAHA!"** The crazed laughter rang out, and the white began to spread on his face.

Any emotion that Archer might have felt towards this Shirou, who miraculously did not seem to embody the stolen ideals of Emiya Kiritsugu, were gone in that moment, as he witnessed the birth of a being who reminded Archer uncomfortably of something similar.

Archer shot towards Rin, pushing her behind him and taking a stance with Kanshou and Bakuya. "Get out of here Rin! Now!" Archer barked to her. Rin had never seen him so serious before.

"But Archer, what-" Rin started, before an exasperated Archer grabbed her and threw her forcibly out the wall they had destroyed, her screaming that she would get him back for his insolence completely ignored.

"**You shouldn't take your eyes off an enemy, ARCHER!" **The crazed voice rang out. Archer immediately crossed Kanshou and Bakuya as a huge black blade slammed into him. Archer found himself quite close to a madly laughing face, with eyes that made even him shiver in disgust.

"What are you, you crazed being!" Archer shouted, as he pushed off and began a flurry of his own attacks. Shirou's body began to take cuts as he desperately tried to dodge, but was not fast enough. Whereas Shirou might have normally been able to fight harder, right now, while this inner being controlled him, he could not think.

Saber, who had stood still as she watched her beloved Master turn into this thing, now reacted, launching herself towards Archer, once more feeling her legs leave the ground in this enhanced version of speed that Shirou's reiryoku gave her. Archer t'sked in annoyance, not unlike Shirou had done when Tohsaka had began to shoot at him with her Gandr, and knew he had to take things a step further.

He wouldn't have been able to take Saber on a good day, unless he fought at his full power. Even then, he knew he would most likely lose. But he had to. This was his chance. For once, he had a monster in front of him, and the fight was not over yet. He could actually save someone.

He felt old emotions come back to him, as his face set into a cold fury as he prepared to fight for his ideals, for the first time in a very long time. His mouth opened on its own, as he prepared himself to fight one he had once called ally and partner.

"_I am the bone of my sword."_ These words, although whispered, seemed to reverberate throughout the entire room, making Shirou's unconscious soul to resonate, and his inner monster to open his eyes wide. Archer kicked Shirou off of him, who's face still filled with white, half of it now unrecognizable.

Saber attacked at an obvious blind spot, and Archer would have smirked if he was not in complete battle mode at the moment, as he defended from the blind spot he had made on purpose, and immediately counter attacked. Saber found herself actually having to take Archer a little more seriously, as he began to attack with a fervor he had not shown before.

"_Steel is my body, and fire is my blood."_ Another line. Shirou stood, his inner monster reacting to the lines that resonated from his body. Had the true Shirou been awake, he might have noticed that although the lines resonated within him, they also felt wrong.

Shirou split Zangetsu into two, to better combat Archer, who held two weapons, and Saber instantly felt her body burn. Gasping, Archer was able to slash the distracted Saber off of him, throwing his weapons as he had at Shirou, and instantly summoning another pair.

"_I have created over a thousand blades."_ The next line. Saber, who know knew what the swords would do, avoided them, even as she winced in pain. Unnoticed to her, black began to seep into her armor, as Shirou smiled.

"**My Queen is coming!"** He laughed out, as he did everything. Whereas the true Shirou was usually more stoic, this version could not seem to stop showing exaggerated emotion. Shirou shot towards Archer, who threw his swords at him as well, the attraction of the lovers causing shifts in the swords that Saber was avoiding.

Archer spoke a different line this time, that did not resonate with Shirou. _"Spirit and technique, flawless and firm."_ He summoned a third pair of Kanshou and Bakuya, the new pair once again causing the rotations of the ones circling around Saber and Shirou to change. Archer began to pour prana into them, and Rin, who had not left the site, but merely stayed out of sight, watching with wide eyes as her Servant displayed power she had no idea he had. At the same time, she felt a slightly greater drain on her circuits, and the accompanying burn as Archer began a greater attack.

"_Strength that pierces the mountains. Sword that splits the river. Fame reaching the imperial villa. We cannot reach heaven together."_ He spoke sorrowfully.

His swords, for lack of a better word, exploded. As Archer poured more prana than Kanshou and Bakuya could handle, they become broken. Dangerous. The swords cracked and split, until they looked like beautiful wings, with feathers made out of shards of blade.

Archer threw himself forward, the circling swords backing off for a moment as he proclaimed, "Crane Wing Three Realm!"

His broken swords met the intended targets of Shirou and Saber, and the shards of the swords began to fly and explode on contact, leaving a slash in Saber's armor, and a wound on Shirou. Yet, for all of that show, it seemed a little too weak an attack to Saber, considering the dramatics that Archer had gone to to set it up.

It was then that her eyes widened as she felt two swords cut through her armor and into her body. Had she looked towards Shirou, she would have seen the same. Three Wing Crane Realm was not a phantasm, or a mystery, or any kind of spell. It was a strategy that Archer had perfected in hislife, where he would distract the enemy with a seemingly powerful attack, his Broken Kanshou and Bakuya, and make them forget about the still circling Kanshou and Bakuya copies.

Even then however, even as the white on Shirou's face covered it completely at his scream of pain, even as Saber's eyes seemed to turn black at the same time, Archer continued to speak.

Even his Three Wing Crane Realm was just a bigger distraction for the true spell, one that took a little bit of time to build up. At least, at the moment it was.

"_Unknown to death, nor known to life."_ Shirou's body transformed next, the white, in contrast to when it was on his face, spread quite fast on his body. Saber seemed to have lost it, as her armor turned black, and black began to cover her eyes as well.

"_Have withstood pain to create many weapons. Yet, those hands will never hold anything." _Archer was almost done. Rin stood behind the wall, just staring at the battle unfolding before her. Rin was a master, she had expected grand battles from this war, yet this was the first large scale battle that had unfolded before her eyes, and she could not help but to stare and watch, not doing anything else.

Shirou's body had seemed to turn into a giant lizard, and Saber's armor had now turned completely black, red veins pulsing, her face now more pale, her eyes yellow.

It was as Archer spoke this last line, that embodied everything that he was, that he remembered. His mind opened to himself, and he remembered something that suddenly made things a lot more clear to him. He smiled coldly.

"_So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."_ Fire came from Archer's body, overtaking everything, as Shirou's body finished it's transformation, the swords being ripped from his body, as giant white wings sprung from his back. He fell onto all fours, looking to the world as a distorted version of a dragon.

Saber's transformation also finished, as a helm of black, like her armor, pulsing with red veins covered her eyes, and her face formed a twisted and cold smile. Invisible Air faded from her sword, and a mangled and darkened version of the once great Excalibur was shown to the world. She also ripped the swords from her body, and gazed lovingly at the form of Shirou's new body.

The world had changed. Tohsaka now had nowhere to hide as she found herself in a desert, with giant rotating gears in the far distance, smog in the air, covering the sky. The remarkable thing, was the thousands and thousands of swords covering this entire new world.

Her mouth opened in a strangled gasp, as she spoke aloud. "Reality Marble!" What kind of hero was her Servant!?

Shirou, rather, the giant dragon, still laughed, voice unchanged despite the huge transformation from humanoid to the perverse distortion of a great and noble beast. Saber, or rather, this Alter Saber stroked him with care, and turned to Archer, even as a giant red ball formed in the dragon's mouth, and released with a shout of, "Cero!"

-No one else-

A man, if he could be called that, studied the barrier in front of him. Although he could not see it, he knew that there was something there. It was his job to be able to figure it out, but more than that, he needed to know what it was. He felt a sick smile grow on his face as he tried to figure out the mechanics of the barrier, when a horrible reiatsu seeped even through the barrier.

His clown like face's eye's widening, he backed away from the invisible barrier. This was so interesting. Oh, the experimenting he could do when he finally got in!

-No one else-

A certain man felt a terrible growth of power. "Oh? This grail war may not be as bloody as mine, but it is interesting nonetheless."

-No one else

A blond man with red eyes laughed coldly as he felt an insignificant power attack his senses. "That mongrel mutt. I can't wait to put the trash down. Saber is mine, no one else's." A second power then assaulted his senses. "Oh? My Saber's power, it's turned different. I am curious." He decided he would wait before he went. He still had wine in his glass.

-No one else-

A purple haired woman watched as her charge, with lighter purple hair, closed her eyes as the power of the one she loved went through her. "Rider, Onee-sama has..."

"Don't worry yourself Sakura." Rider told her, hiding a smile. Oh, one of her guards was about to die. How she hated those blasted Shinigami. Why did gods have to constantly ruin her life?

-End Chapter 10-

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**AN: Man, was that a wild ride or what? I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It was quite the experience, especially the fight at the end. To those wondering, Shirou looks like Ichigo did during his Visard training, except for the exception that he is on all fours, with giant white wings. For the wings, if you need to, think of Sasuke Uchiha in the first half of Naruto at the Valley of the End.**

**Sorry this took a while, but at least it wasn't two months again. Next chapter will come faster, I promise! And, speaking of the next chapter, I have a surprise!**

**NIX'S WARDEN and I were talking, and he suggested a story idea for me, that I knew I would write the instant that I read it. I started to go into my own little author world, and started PM'ing him with huge PM's, that started to make even him confused.**

**To those of you who know him, you know how hard that is, as he is kinda like Jason from Fairy Tail. "COOOOOL!"**

**The story is like this – Shirou heard the sound of a gun firing, and Lancer retreating with a small wound on his body. He looked up, and the moon shined on a figure that he instantly recognized. "DAD!?" - Yup, that is the story I knew I would write the instant I read the description.**

**So, within the next two weeks, my new story, 'Happy Tears are Red' will be born. If you wonder about how that will affect updates to this story, review or PM me. I'll explain during the first chapter for, 'Happy Tears are Red.' It will be up withing the next two weeks, I have already started on it.**

**Gazzadcs, if you're out there somewhere reading this right now, thank you for being the one that brought me into this world. I'll always remember you for it.**

**Till next time, Ja ne!**

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